Canada Post has agreed to a request by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) for a 30-day cooling off period with no mail disruption.
The catch is that Canada Post has added a condition that the union has not yet agreed to.
“If the parties are unable to successfully conclude negotiations within that (30-day) period, both parties must agree to binding arbitration,” Canada Post said in a news release issued Friday morning.
CUPW said it is prepared to engage in “intensive negotiations” with Canada Post during the cooling off period, which would include an extension of the terms and conditions of 50,000 workers’ current contracts.
Canada Post says the two sides have been in discussions since late 2015, with 60 days of conciliation and almost 30 more days with federal mediators, yet the parties remain far apart on key issues.
“The impasse has caused tremendous uncertainty, which is having a major impact on the business, our customers and our employees,” Canada Post said in its statement.
Mail and parcels in the system have dropped significantly with the uncertainty, and parcel volumes from major e-customers have declined by more than 80 per cent, Canada Post said.
The key sticking points are that Canada Post wants to change the pension plans of new employees to a defined-contribution basis rather than defined benefits, and also the union is seeking to address disparities in wages between rural and urban mail carriers.
RICHARD McGUIRE
Aberdeen Publishing
