Strikes at Canada Post: what would be the impacts?

Threats of strikes loom over the negotiating table for Canada Post employees, while employers are trying as best they can to contain them, at the risk of seeing “significant” consequences on its customers as the holidays approach.

Since November 3, the approximately 55,000 workers represented by the Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) have been in a legal position to call a strike with a minimum of 72 hours notice.

The collective agreements between Canada Post and CUPW ended on December 31, 2023 for rural and suburban mail carriers, as well as on January 31, 2024 for urban postal operations.

If for the moment, neither the union nor the employers wish to resort to it – saying they are “determined” to negotiate agreements without interruption of work –, the threat weighs like a sword of Damocles in a climate of “uncertainty”, indicated the employer on Monday.

Here’s everything you need to know about these possible strikes, from both sides’ claims to their impact on customers:

The union’s claims

In its latest offer, the Union would have proposed to Canada Post a salary increase of 22% over four years, involving 9% in the first year, 5% in the second year, 4% in the third year, and 4% in the fourth year.

Among the demands, employees claim, according to a November 5 update:

– Job security;

– An hourly rate system with appropriate time values;

– Maximizing and maintaining the number of eight-hour routes per day;

– That all hours worked give rise to the right to a pension;

– That Company vehicles be provided to all rural and suburban mail carriers;

– Improved staffing and replacement of absences;

– Guaranteed 40-hour work weeks;

– Paid breaks and meal breaks;

– An increase in short-term disability insurance (PAICD) benefits and compensation paid in the event of a work accident;

– 10 days of paid leave for medical reasons;

– Improved social benefits;

– An improvement in the rights of on-call relief employees (ERSA);

– Paid preventive leave for pregnant or breastfeeding employees;

– Better protections against technological changes;

– Participation of rural and suburban mail carriers in service expansion projects;

– No subcontracting of work;

– A cost of living allowance (IVC);

– Better protection against harassment;

– A complete elimination of separation of sorting and delivery (STL);

– Time for neighborhood mail;

– Improved staffing;

– A rotation of tasks for certain groups;

– Internal recovery of work;

– Projects favoring the expansion of services.

Canada Post’s position

For its part, Canada Post shared, on October 29, its new global offer to its employees, which involved:

– Annual salary increases of 11.5% over four years (with a compound rate of 11.97%);

– Protection of the defined benefit pension plan for current staff, as well as their job security and benefits;

– Continued salary protection against unforeseen inflation;

– An improvement in leave rights for current staff.

– A Transition to an hourly rate of pay for staff represented by the rural and suburban letter carrier unit;

– Support for the CUPW proposal to merge the rural and suburban mail carrier unit and the urban unit.

According to the employer, this offer would improve and protect the “most important” elements for staff, while “taking into account the financial constraints of the company”, we can read.

He also suggested submitting the proposals to a neutral third party through a binding arbitration process, to establish a “reasonable path forward” on certain elements where the two parties cannot agree.

In a press release released Monday, Canada Post added that it had also offered competitive compensation for new hires.

Canada Post, however, wishes to implement a more flexible delivery model, in order to offer an affordable option seven days a week to catch up with the competition, but would come up against “major constraints” on the side of the Union, which would “negate the advantages potential,” we can read.

The impacts of strikes

As the holiday season approaches, the employer would try at all costs to avoid a walkout when this could have “significant consequences” on the businesses served and on the public, but also on the “already difficult financial situation of the company,” indicated Canada Post in a press release on October 25.

Citing a need for “certainty” on the part of businesses for their shipments during this critical period of the year, Canada Post deplored the fact that, already, some have decided to entrust their packages to other delivery companies

“Customers have also canceled direct marketing campaigns to prevent items from remaining blocked in the postal network in the event of a strike. Overall, our volumes are experiencing a significant decline and continue to fall,” the company added on Monday.

And for the public?

In the event of a strike at Canada Post, several government bodies, such as the SAAQ and the RAMQ, have prepared a procedure to follow by inviting the population to use online services.

The Quebec government, for its part, wanted to inform the population that it is doing everything possible to ensure that government checks are delivered on time in the event of a strike.

It is not excluded, however, that a strike at this time of year could greatly affect deliveries, especially in the run-up to Black Friday and Cyber ​​Monday, which together constitute a huge volume of parcels.

In 2018, strikes launched in October caused more than 200 service interruptions, to the point where the company was forced to ask international postal administrations, including that of the United States, “to no longer ship mail. “articles until the delays are resolved,” AFP reported at the time, citing a spokesperson.