Canada Post takes hard line on job action

Canada Post is warning unionized workers that any type of job action, including rotating strikes this weekend, will mean the shutdown of the post office.

“In the event of a labour disruption, Canada Post will not operate,” the Crown corporation said Monday. “Mail and parcels will not be delivered, and no new items will be accepted.

“Any mail and parcels within the postal system during a work disruption will be secured and delivered as quickly as possible once operations resume,” the release says.

It also listed looming deadlines to ensure express mail or priority parcels are delivered by Thursday, because Friday is the Canada Day holiday.

The two sides have been holed up in an Ottawa hotel for months, trying to hammer out a deal covering both urban and processing plant members, and rural carriers before the July 2 deadline. A deal would cover 50,000 employees.

At that point, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers would be in a legal strike position. The corporation would be in position to lock out employees, though either side would need to serve 72 hours’ notice before any action.

Canada Post has also taken the unusual step of publicly releasing details of its last offer to the union, put forward on Saturday, after saying it wanted to keep negotiations at the table. It said the offer includes a wage increase and no change to the defined benefit pensions for current employees. New hires would be put on a defined contribution plan.

A union bulletin notes those covered in the urban contract would be offered a four-year deal with no wage hike in the first year and one per cent in each of the remaining three years. The union is pushing for wage increases above inflation.

Mike Palacek, CUPW’s national president, was not available Monday. He has said in previous interviews the union believes management is laying the groundwork for a lockout.

Palacek has said changes to the defined benefit pension plan are a no-go for the union. The company has promised to protect the existing plan, but wants to switch future hires to a defined contribution plan, noting the existing plan has a $6.2-billion solvency deficit.

“We can’t just press the snooze button and hope the pension plan problems go away,” Canada Post spokesperson Jon Hamilton said

He added that the post office is already feeling the impact of a potential labour disruption, with both mail and parcel volumes on the decline.

“An interruption in service would have a huge impact on our business,” Hamilton said.