Canada Post employees represented by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers will vote on new contract proposals from April 20 to May 30, in addition to a strike vote, CUPW National President Jan Simpson said in a bulletin last week.
Employees will cast votes on two tentative deals — one covering urban workers, the other addressing rural and suburban mail carriers. Majority "yes" votes on both contracts would conclude a protracted negotiations process between Canada Post and CUPW featuring strikes and other labor disruptions such as an overtime ban.
Voting is available for CUPW members "in good standing," meaning they have signed a membership application, have a membership card and are not overdue on paying union dues, Simpson said. Last year's government-ordered vote on proposed offers rejected by union members allowed all CUPW-represented employees to participate.
Additionally, CUPW members must attend an information meeting held by CUPW locals regarding the tentative agreements, according to Simpson. Contract voting takes place once the meeting is finished. The union will hold a strike vote available for all employees to participate in as well.
"Should one or both tentative agreements not be ratified, we need to have a strong strike mandate to maintain our leverage in further negotiations," Simpson said.
The majority of CUPW's National Executive Board recommends union members vote yes on the agreements, Simpson said. The tentative deals feature wage increases and adjust the carrier's approach to weekend delivery, while scrapping some previously proposed operational changes like dynamic routing.
If one or both of the proposed contracts are rejected, CUPW's primary focus would be on negotiating collective agreements, the union said in an emailed statement to Supply Chain Dive. A strike mandate would give the National Executive Board the authority to decide if any strike actions should take place and what the scope would be, CUPW added.
Shippers shouldn't be concerned about the strike vote, as it's "highly unlikely that the membership will vote against these contracts," Alison Layfield, VP of product development at ePost Global, said in an email.
"The consensus is that the union supports the changes after numerous bargaining sessions spent with Canada Post and the mediator," Layfield said. "The message is clear -- that the tentative agreement is as good as it's going to get given the financial position Canada Post is in."
Canada Post has struggled to retain business amid the lengthy negotiations process, with some shippers diverting volume to other carriers in the country to avoid potential labor-related disruptions.
