Canada Post, union disagree over taking 'five-minute wash-up time.' Here's what it is
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The Crown Corporation received notice of a strike on Monday. It presented the union with new proposals for both of its bargaining units, Urban Postal Operation (UPO) and the Rural and Suburban Mail Carriers (RSMC), on Wednesday. The union said it would be reviewing the offers, and said it had extended a two-week truce to Canada Post. However, the corporation refused that request, and a strike on Friday remains a possibility.
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As the review of the proposals are underway, the union said later on Wednesday that the offers 'fall short.'
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Among remaining sticking points are weekend work, benefits, wages, dynamic routing, and load levelling. The union also said that Canada Post would be 'taking away the 5-minute wash-up time.'
Canada Post echoed this statement in a summary of its new global for employees in the Urban unit. The corporation said: 'We're removing the 5-minute wash-up time before the meal period.'
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Here's what to know.
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Five-minute wash-up time refers to time when employees can get ready before they have a meal.
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'Employees shall, during working hours, be allowed five (5) minutes paid wash-up time before the meal period when the nature of their work makes it necessary,' according to the Agreement between Canada Post Corporation and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers.
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In a section about 'unproductive time' in Canada Post's written submission to the Industrial Inquiry Commission (IIC) in February, the corporation says part of the Urban agreement allows for 'five minutes of paid wash-up time to allow employees to wash their hands before a meal period when the nature of their work makes it necessary.' The commission was created to examine the key issues between both parties with a series of public hearings.
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However, Canada Post has removed wash-up time from the new Urban offer currently under review.
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Rafael Gomez, University of Toronto professor and director of the Centre for Industrial Relations & Human Resources, said in an emailed statement to National Post on Thursday that the issue 'only inflames members and makes it more likely we will have another strike.'
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'I guess management is saying, 'Any worker is free to wash up after a shift is done, but why should 'I' (i.e., the employer) be asked to pay if the shift is done? Wash up on your time…no one is stopping you,'' he said.
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He continued: 'While on the other side, the union is saying, 'Remaining healthy and ready to work another shift IS something 'you' (i.e., the employer) should care about and hence pay for.''
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