EBay urges PM to intervene in Canada Post negotiations
TORONTO — Online retailer eBay Canada is urging its community of online sellers to sign a petition asking Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to intervene in Canada Post’s protracted labour negotiations and put an end to “uncertainty” for small businesses.
The open letter was emailed to all eBay sellers on Monday and linked to an online petition asking the Prime Minister to “explore legislative solutions to the current situation” and cites the “negative business implications of the ongoing negotiations” between Canada Post Corp. and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers.
On Sunday night, the threat of possible job action by Canada Post workers was placed on hold for a further 24 hours.
“We’ve amended our notice in a last-ditch effort to reach a negotiated agreement before we are forced to start working to rule,” said CUPW national president Mike Palecek.
The union initially served 72-hour strike notice Thursday night, accusing Canada Post of forcing a labour disruption by refusing to bargain in good faith. CUPW said that if there was no deal by midnight Sunday, it would begin job action on Monday by having its members refuse to work overtime on a rotating basis, starting in Alberta and the Northwest Territories.
The two sides have been deadlocked for months on the issues of pay scales for rural letter carriers and proposed changes to pensions for future employees.
A federally appointed mediator was brought in Friday, and Canada Post spokesman Jon Hamilton said in a statement Sunday night that the Crown corporation had agreed to extend the talks for 24 hours at the mediator’s request.
In its petition to the Prime Minister, eBay said its sellers “have been dealing with this uncertainty for months; we have been forced to adapt our businesses and make other shipping arrangements for our goods.”
While many of eBay’s small- and mid-sized businesses have come up with alternative solutions, “the work involved in doing so negatively impacts our productivity and competitiveness,” the letter reads, adding “these arrangements are unsustainable.”
eBay Canada’s move comes a month after its managing director, Andrea Stairs, made a similar plea in an open letter to Palecek and Canada Post CEO Deepak Chopra, urging them “to come to a longterm agreement that restores certainty in Canada’s postal service and ensures consistent, reliable support for Canadian small and medium businesses.”
Meanwhile on Monday, MaryAnn Mihychuk, Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour, welcomed CUPW’s extended notice of job action.
“It is an encouraging sign of ongoing progress and a renewed determination to negotiate a new collective agreement,” she said in a release issued by her office.
The minister said she would remain focused on supporting the ongoing negotiations, and would continue to monitor the situation closely.
Palecek previously said the union’s planned job action would have little effect on Canada Post customers, noting the mail would still be delivered.
Hamilton disagreed with that assessment, warning in a phone interview that the threat of job action was creating uncertainty for customers and would have a huge impact on the business “whether the union likes it or not.”