As negotiations between the Canadian Union of Postal Workers and Canada Post stall, the union is bypassing the employer to deal directly with the federal government, which shows no sign of giving ground.
The CUPW, which represents 53,000 members, has met three times in the past two weeks with Joël Lightbound, the federal Minister for Government Transformation, Public Works and Procurement, trying to convince him to put the brakes on Canada Post’s sweeping restructuring.
“The Minister continues to refuse to reverse his plans for cuts to our postal services,” the union told the Star in a statement on Friday. “CUPW will continue to highlight how this choice will kill good jobs, vital public services and devastate communities.”
The meetings took place as postal workers scaled back their two-week-long walkout to rotating strikes, while Canada Post scrambled to clear a mail backlog amid public frustration and resumed deliveries, albeit without a service guarantee. The Crown corporation appeared to drift further apart from the union, pressing ahead with its own plan to overhaul operations, including ending home mail delivery, within the 45-day timeline set by the minister.
CUPW and Canada Post have not met since the corporation on Oct. 3 delivered its latest contract offer, which includes major concessions from its “final” offer rejected by postal workers in August.
“Canada Post is letting mommy and daddy do the bargaining,” said York University labour studies professor Steven Tufts. He explained that the union’s meetings exclusively with Lightbound signal that the federal government has effectively taken over negotiations for Canada Post.
Tufts says he thinks the union’s strategy is to persuade the government to reverse some of the sweeping changes to Canada Post’s mandate, such as rolling back the expansion of community mailboxes.
The CUPW said in a statement to the Star on Friday that its second discussion with the minister on Thursday focused on issues such as “livable wages, job security, as well as Canada Post’s ‘non-negotiable,’ demands such as weekend delivery.”
The union said it highlighted the “enormous costs” of switching from door-to-door delivery to community mailboxes, estimating it would cost at least $1.6 billion, and that the minister’s office should focus on growing the business by expanding revenue-generating services, such as postal banking.
“The Minister’s office said it would get back to us as soon as possible,” CUPW said. “Our fight continues for strong public services, good jobs and a sustainable post office. The rotating strikes will continue until further notice.”
Tufts said he cannot say whether the minister is willing to alter the track he has set for Canada Post’s restructuring, but noted that pressure is mounting through rotating strikes as the holiday season approaches.
He added that both Canada Post and the union are awaiting a back-to-work solution. At a minimum, Tufts suggested, the government could stall the 45-day timeline it set for the Crown corp. to outline its restructuring plan and initiate a mandate review of the organization.
“If they did that, it would be an olive branch and a good-faith move to get bargaining to a resolution started again,” Tufts said.
However, Canada Post appears unfazed. The corporation said in a press release Thursday that it is developing a plan to revamp its operations in line with Lightbound’s request, guided by principles such as “protecting access to vital postal services in rural, remote, and Indigenous communities.”
In a statement to the Star, Canada Post rejected postal banking, pointing to a May Industrial Inquiry Commission report that said Canadians are already using mobile banking and that an effectively insolvent company should not branch into untested areas like banking and insurance.
Laurent de Casanove, a representative for Lightbound’s office, told the Star that the ministry is “committed to remaining engaged with the union,” but would not comment on the ongoing discussions with CUPW.
University of Toronto professor Rafael Gomez, who studies employment relations, said the union’s direct appeal to the federal government shows they “realize where the true power lies” and might yield more effective results.
“The union kind of realizes, what’s the point of negotiating with the company leadership when they have to go to government too to change their strategy,” he said.
Gomez added that the May Industrial Inquiry Commission report — which the union strongly disputed — lays out a roadmap for what Canada Post might look like in the future and requires the union, the government, and Canada Post leadership to sit down and reflect together before bargaining.
“That’s, I think, what has to happen. And maybe that’s what’s happening, almost de facto, by the union just going directly to government and just trying to understand where the government is thinking Canada Post will go.”
