Canada Post employees represented by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers rejected two multi-year contract offers on Friday, prolonging a drawn-out and disruptive negotiations period.
Workers cast their votes for Canada Post's "final offers" between July 21 and Aug. 1 as part of a government-ordered process. One contract covers urban workers, while the other applies to rural and suburban mail carriers. Each contract was rejected by nearly 70%, according to a Friday statement from CUPW National President Jan Simpson.
Canada Post said it was “disappointed” in the results.
“This result does not lessen the urgent need to modernize and protect this vital national service,” the carrier said in a statement. “However, it does mean the uncertainty that has been significantly impacting our business – and the many Canadians and Canadian businesses who depend on Canada Post – will continue. We are evaluating our next steps.”
Simpson said that CUPW members “made clear what our negotiators have been telling the Employer all along: these offers don’t cut it.”
“It's time for Canada Post to come back to the bargaining table and start seriously negotiating,” the statement said. “With these votes behind us, Canada Post must now recognize that the only way forward is to negotiate ratifiable collective agreements that meet postal workers’ needs. The time for games is over.”
In the meantime, the union plans to continue its national overtime ban while also remaining ready to resume negotiations with Canada Post, per Simpson.
Canada Post had proposed a 13.59% compounded wage increase over four years for more than 53,000 Canada Post employees, along with operational changes like the introduction of weekend-focused delivery workers. The CUPW had been against the contract proposals, in part because they fell short of the union's desire for a 19% pay increase.
The contract rejections extend the Canada Post contract negotiations saga, which has seen a peak season strike and an ongoing overtime ban that began in May.
Labor disruptions during negotiations have spurred shippers to divert volume to private carriers such as FedEx and UPS. Further uncertainty could make it difficult for Canada Post to recapture that business.
“Yo-yoing in and out of strike mandates is causing Canada’s small businesses – one of Canada Post’s last groups of profitable customers – to leave for good,” said Dan Kelly, president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, in a July news release. “Small business owners and other consumers need certainty."
