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CTV News
2 hours ago
- CTV News
After unionized Canada Post workers reject ‘final offers,' what happens next?
A Canada Post employee prepares to check a street letter box while delivering mail, in White Rock, B.C., on Monday, July 28, 2025. Unionized workers at Canada Post rejected the Crown corporatin's latest offers in a forced ratification vote. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck OTTAWA — Labour experts say another postal service strike is unlikely after unionized Canada Post workers rejected their employer's latest round of offers in a forced vote and the parties mull their next steps. The Canadian Union of Postal Workers said Friday that the roughly 55,000 members represented by the union shot down the Canada Post's latest proposal, which would've seen wage hikes of about 13 per cent over four years and restructuring to add part-time workers to the deal. Some 68.5 per cent of urban mail carriers who voted were against the deal, while their rural and suburban colleagues were 69.4 per cent against. Adam King, assistant professor in the labour studies program at the University of Manitoba, said the forced ratification vote ordered by the federal government and administered by the Canada Industrial Relations Board was a 'distraction.' 'Hopefully, at the end of the day, we see an agreement reached at the table — where it should have been in the beginning,' he said in an interview. 'Canada Post management is really going to have to put something on the table that the union actually thinks members will accept.' Negotiations for a new collective agreement have been ongoing for more than a year and a half. The federal government asked CIRB to step in and scuttle a holiday season postal strike late last year, but the parties remain at an impasse. The Crown corporation requested Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu send its most recent proposals from late May — calling them the 'final offers' — to a forced vote from workers. Canada Post said in a statement Friday that it was 'disappointed' in the vote results and that it was weighing its next steps. CUPW said in a bulletin to members last week that its negotiators are ready to head back to the bargaining table. A national ban on overtime work, in place since CUPW entered a strike position in late May, will continue in the meantime. King acknowledged that while the vote didn't go in Canada Post's favour, it wasn't a 'resounding' rejection, with more than 30 per cent of voters coming out in favour of the deals as presented. Larry Savage, professor in the department of labour studies at Brock University, said that apparent division in the ranks of CUPW would make it difficult to get members on a picket line. 'Even if you could effectively organize a strike, it's not obvious to me that it would produce the results the union's looking for,' Savage said in an interview. Before Hajdu sent Canada Post's offers to a vote, she had asked the parties to come to terms for binding arbitration to put an end to the dispute. CUPW was broadly in favour of sending talks to arbitration but Canada Post pushed back, arguing it would tie negotiations up in a lengthy process. Canada Post has warned that uncertainty around the fate of contract talks continues to cost the struggling postal service millions of dollars in business each day as customers shift to competitors. The Crown corporation's financial woes have been well-documented throughout the talks. An Industrial Inquiry Commission report from Commissioner William Kaplan earlier this year found the postal service was effectively bankrupt and needed substantial reforms to remain afloat. But King said arbitrators tend to be 'conservative' in bringing parties to a middle ground and are unlikely to make the kinds of sweeping, structural changes Canada Post is looking for in a new deal. Savage agreed that 'binding arbitration is not actually a long-term solution to the problems at Canada Post.' 'I think that management's forced final vote was a gamble and it blew up in their faces, but they still hold cards,' he said. Canada Post could unilaterally impose new contract terms and 'dare the union to strike,' Savage said, or could start laying off workers as its business falters. 'Both of those strategies would put tremendous pressure on the union to reach an agreement,' he said. 'The danger, of course, for Canada Post is that its aggressive tactics thus far have seemingly only driven the parties further apart.' Hajdu said in a statement Friday that the federal government expects the parties to get back to the negotiating table and find a resolution 'as soon as possible.' Given the financial struggles mentioned in the report, Savage said he expects the federal government will look to restructure Canada Post's mandate after the current labour dispute wraps up. That could see, as suggested in Kaplan's report, a further expansion of community mailboxes or an end to daily door-to-door delivery. In that context, Savage said the negotiations are less about which side wins the day and more about 'who will survive long-term.' 'There is a storm brewing for both Canada Post's management and the union. And I think that getting over this hump is important, but I think that it pales in comparison to what's coming,' he said. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 5, 2025. Craig Lord, The Canadian Press
National Post
2 hours ago
- National Post
The inside story of how Gaza aid is diverted from the people who need it most
JERUSALEM — Central to the international pressure on Israel for a ceasefire with Hamas are claims of widespread starvation and even accusations that Israel is deliberately using hunger as a weapon. But The Press Service of Israel's (TPS-IL) closer examination of the humanitarian aid pipeline found that a combination of United Nations policies, Hamas looting and black market profiteering prevents much aid from reaching Gaza civilians and inflates the prices of items that do reach market shelves. Article content Article content Most damningly, according to the UN's own numbers, a staggering 85 per cent of the aid entering the Gaza Strip by truck since May 19 has been stolen. Article content Article content 'There is some hunger in Gaza, and it exists only in places Hamas is pursuing it, not in other areas,' said Prof. Eytan Gilboa, an expert in international relations and media at Reichman University in Herzliya. Article content Before the war, around 150–300 trucks entered Gaza daily, though only a fraction carried food. Data from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) shows that in 2022, an average of 292 trucks crossed daily, with just 73 of them carrying food — around 25 per cent. Despite this, there were no signs of famine. Public health indicators such as infant mortality and life expectancy matched those in Jordan and Judea and Samaria. Article content Article content The report also refuted flawed assumptions about local food production. While Amnesty International claimed that local agriculture provided 44 per cent of Gaza's food needs, the report argued that this number was based on financial expenditure, not caloric intake. In reality, local production accounted for no more than 12 per cent of caloric supply. The majority of calories came from imported grains, oils and food aid — largely delivered by the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and the World Food Programme. Article content Article content Israel suspended aid shipments temporarily in March 2025 due to Hamas's systematic looting, but resumed deliveries in May. By the end of May, 170 trucks were entering the Strip each day. As of July 27, all aid crossings have reopened, and additional airdrops are being carried out. The Gaza Humanitarian Fund (GHF), launched in May, now supports alternative aid distribution networks. Article content According to official Israeli sources, humanitarian aid currently flows through two main channels. The first includes direct food packages — primarily shelf-stable items such as canned vegetables, lentils and nutritional supplements — distributed by international organizations through secure hubs.
CBC
4 hours ago
- CBC
Young people more prone to believe in conspiracies, research shows
Hillary Clinton had Jeffrey Epstein killed. Barack Obama was not born in the United States. The pharmaceutical industry was responsible for the spread of COVID-19. These are all conspiracies with no basis in fact, says University of Ottawa professor Daniel Stockemer — but his research shows that theories like them are gaining traction among young people. In fact, people younger than 35 are more likely to believe in conspiracy theories than other age groups, according to a recent study by Stockemer and co-author Jean-Nicolas Bordeleau that surveyed more than 380,000 people internationally. The research was recently published in the journal Political Psychology. "Conspiracy theories are now for everyone," Stockemer told CBC Radio's All In A Day, noting that between 20 and 25 per cent of the population believes in one. "But the young are slightly more likely to believe in them." If the problem isn't addressed, Stockemer said he expects the "democratic backsliding" he's seen all over the world to continue. "If we don't have a young population that stands up for the values of democracy ... who else will?" Why do young adults believe conspiracies? There are many reasons why young people are particularly susceptible, Stockemer said — including the fact the political world has become more divided and chaotic. "Right now, we're in a world of polarization," he said. "There is no compromise, no middle ground." Compounding that effect, Stockemer said, is that young people are being "alienated" from politics as mainstream politicians largely ignore their concerns — including during the last federal election. "The leaders didn't even come to the [University of Ottawa] to have a talk or anything," he said. "And then we wonder why young people have a higher tendency to go the populist or conspiracies route." Then there's technological leaps like the internet, smart phones and social media, Stockemer said, which allow conspiracy and misinformation to spread, especially among young people. The internet also potentially exposes them to every unfortunate incident that happens in the world, said Carmen Celestini, who teaches at the University of Waterloo and studies disinformation, extremists and conspiracy theorists. "That fear and that perpetual sense of disaster can lead people to believe in conspiracy theories," said Celestini, noting she wasn't surprised "even a little bit" by Stockemer and Bordeleau's findings. Influencers who tote extremist views and conspiracies also give their viewers someone or something to blame, she added. No 'quick fix' Widespread conspiracies and the problems inherent to the internet will require a "global response," said Celestini, one that will involve talking about the fears and emotions that led people to these conclusions. "It really is [about] having that transparent talk with your child about what it is that they're feeling, why they might believe some of these ideas and where the emotions behind it come from," she said. Stockemer said there's no "quick fix," but improving civic education and better regulating misinformation online would help. "To bring [young people] back, we need to also include them within the democratic politics much more than now," he said. And there could be immense consequences, he added, if we continue to neglect the susceptibility of young people to conspiracy theories. "Over the past 10 years, the number of democracies has declined [and] long-standing democracies like the United States [and] India are in serious danger of falling," he said. "If we continue the path we are continuing, I don't know how long some established democracies will survive. … And I think that's one of the far-reaching lessons from my research."
