CANADA POST SUFFERS $71M LOSS
Canada Post says it recorded a loss of $71 million in its latest quarter, which it is directly blaming on costs related to a pay equity dispute with its largest union. The country’s postal service says the net loss compares with a loss of $44 million in the third quarter a year ago. In September, an arbitrator ordered Canada Post to give rural and suburban mail carriers pay increases of up to 25 per cent to settle a long-fought pay equity dispute. Not including added benefits that were part of the ruling, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers says the pay increase amounted to as much as $13,000 annually, retroactive to the beginning of 2016. Canada Post says the costs of the wage adjustments, increases in pension pay and other benefits will amount to $550 million by the end of the year, with $130 million already recorded by the end of 2017.