Latest news with #JanSimpson
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Canada Post rejects binding arbitration as labor dispute intensifies
Tensions in Canada's postal service drama are worsening after Canada Post rejected a proposal by unionized mail carriers to resolve stalled contract talks with binding arbitration, adding to uncertainty about whether workers will take further action that could halt mail and parcel service across the nation. Members of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) have since May 23 refused to work overtime, resulting in a limited slowdown for deliveries. The action was taken in lieu of a threatened strike when a government-imposed moratorium on pressure tactics, which ended a 32-day strike in December, expired. Many e-commerce retailers that rely on Canada Post for last-mile parcel deliveries have switched business to FedEx, UPS and a host of independent couriers, contributing to a 65% year-over-year drop in Canada Post's parcel volumes The CUPW on Saturday objected to Canada Post's call for the government to go over the union's head and conduct a member vote on its 'best-and-final' offer, saying a forced vote represented an 'unwarranted government intervention in the free collective bargaining process' and would not result in lasting labor peace between the parties. The union countered with a proposal for binding arbitration to resolve all outstanding issues over wages, benefits, job protection and working conditions. During the arbitration process, employees cannot strike and the employer cannot lock out the employees. Those conditions wouldn't apply in the event of a forced vote, according to the union.'This refusal constitutes yet another demonstration that Canada Post Corporation is not interested in a reasonable outcome to this round of negotiation. A forced vote may fail to end the labour conflict and risks further division, prolonging uncertainty for all parties. Arbitration would end the labour dispute immediately and create certainty for all Canadians,' the CUPW said in a weekend statement. Canada Post characterized arbitration in completely opposite terms. 'After 18 months of challenging negotiations with the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW), Canada Post is seeking a timely and fair resolution to restore stability to the postal system while ensuring employees have a voice in the process by allowing them to vote. Arbitration would be long and complicated, likely lasting more than a year. This would further extend the uncertainty experienced over the last 18 months and accelerate the company's significant financial challenges. It would also continue to leave employees without a contract – and strip them of their right to vote on a new collective agreement,' Canada Post said in a statement, noting that the CUPW has traditionally opposed binding arbitration. CUPW National President Jan Simpson said in an Oct. 30, 2024, message to members that binding arbitration was a Canada Post delaying tactic that would waste union dues on lawyers and Post needs union cooperation to make structural and operational changes to its business model in an effort to break a precipitous decline in mail and parcel volumes over many years that has resulted in $2.7 billion in losses since 2018. A government commission last month declared that Canada Post is in a financial crisis. It recommended a series of reforms, endorsed by the postal operator, such as lowering delivery standards, flexible use of part-time employees for weekend parcel delivery and more use of community mailboxes instead of door delivery. It placed most of the blame for the failed labor negotiations on the CUPW, saying union leadership is defending the status quo and seeking best-in-class compensation, terms and conditions. Canada Post is pushing for dynamic structuring of delivery routes each day based on parcel volumes, load leveling among drivers to more evenly spread the workload and a lighter regulatory hand so it can lower parcel rates to more competitive levels, among other changes. Click here for more FreightWaves/American Shipper stories by Eric Kulisch. Canada Post asks government to hold employee vote on contract offer Small businesses at risk as Canada Post workers prepare to strikeThe post Canada Post rejects binding arbitration as labor dispute intensifies appeared first on FreightWaves.
CTV News
31-05-2025
- Business
- CTV News
Canada Post workers gather in Ottawa as part of nationwide rallies
Dozens rally in support of Canada Post workers at the Human Rights Monument in Ottawa on Saturday May. 31, 2025 (Josh Marano/ CTV News Ottawa) Dozens of Canada Post workers and other supporters came out to a rally Saturday to show their support amid ongoing labour tensions between the employer and the union representing roughly 55,000 postal staff. Ottawa was one of 13 cities hosting a rally which started at the Human Rights Monument before making its way to the prime minister's office on Wellington Street. Canada Post presented its 'final offers' to the union on Wednesday, including compulsory overtime and a signing bonus of up to $1,000. But it stuck to a proposal for a 14 per cent cumulative wage hike over four years and part-time staff on weekend shifts, a major sticking point for the union. National president for the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, Jan Simpson, says the offer does not meet the needs of postal workers. 'We feel the best way for this round of bargaining is to go to binding arbitration, where we're actually able to resolve the issues and have some labor peace as well,' Simpson says. Canada Post says the two sides are at an impasse after months of conciliation and mediation and has asked Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu to force a union membership vote on its latest proposal. The union has been in a legal strike position as of May 23, but so far has opted instead for an overtime ban. 'We want to get back to the table, we want to bargain collective agreements,' Simpson adds. 'For us right now, the situation we're in because of Canada Post asking the minister for to go to the vote, we're looking at other options for us to try to resolve these collective agreements.' Simpson adds the union is looking for living wages, health and safety to be improved as well as expansion of the public post office. With files from The Canadian Press
Ottawa Citizen
31-05-2025
- Business
- Ottawa Citizen
Postal workers protest 'final offer' from Canada Post
Ottawa postal workers, with support from Ontario and Quebec locals, protested on Saturday against Canada Post's demand that they be forced to vote on the company's 'final offer.' Article content Article content Gathering in front of the Canadian Tribute to Human Rights monument near city hall, leaders from the Canadian Union of Postal Workers decried what they said was an attack on the public post office. Article content Article content The crowd of around 90 heard speeches and chanted 'Hands off my post office' before marching to the prime minister's office on nearby Wellington Street. Article content Article content 'Our public post office is under attack. Canada Post is pushing cuts that are going to harm you, the workers, but also harm the Canadian public,' Jan Simpson, CUPW's national president, said at the rally. Article content The union announced a nationwide overtime ban for its 55,000 workers on May 23 as they began escalating toward strike action. On Saturday, similar rallies took place across Canada as the union sought to send a message to Canada Post about its vision for the future of the struggling public service. Article content Article content Article content The union has also criticized Canada Post for asking Minister of Jobs and Families Patty Hajdu to direct that a vote take place on an offer made Wednesday. What Canada Post called its 'final offer,' included a signing bonus of $500 or $1,000, the removal of compulsory overtime and other items. Article content In an interview with the Ottawa Citizen, Simpson said that forcing a vote on the last offer was not the best way to solve the labour dispute. Simpson said many issues that caused the strike remained on the table, including route ownership from letter carriers, closing of retail storefronts and downsizing of the public post office.
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Canada Post Presents ‘Final Offers' to Union, Who Says Labor Battle is ‘Far from Over'
Canada Post put out what it said was its 'final offers' to the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) on Wednesday as both parties remain deadlocked in negotiations for new contracts for urban and rural mail carriers. The 50,000 CUPW-represented postal workers instituted a nationwide overtime ban after the negotiation deadline ended on Friday. Rallies are planned across Canada on Saturday. More from Sourcing Journal Canada Post Workers Begin Overtime Ban After Failing to Reach Deal Canada Cools US Trade Tensions By Drawing Down Retaliatory Duties Canadian Courier Strike Risks Intensify at Canada Post, DHL Express According to the national courier, the newest offers include a signing bonus of up to $1,000 Canadian dollars ($728) depending on role, the elimination of mandatory overtime for the urban unit and lower inflation thresholds for cost-of-living allowance payments across all employees. But the offers did not include any improvement over the prior cumulative wage increase proposal of 14 percent over four years, or any response to the union's concerns about contracting out deliveries to third parties. The union also took umbrage with Canada Post's contention that part-time flex staffing and weekend delivery and dynamic routing for urban employees are both 'non-negotiable.' 'Canada Post says this was its final offer. But this fight is far from over,' union president Jan Simpson said in response. Canada's Minister of Jobs and Families Patty Hajdu and Secretary of State for Labour John Zerucelli are meeting with union officials in Ottawa on Friday to discuss the negotiations. While the overtime ban isn't the full-blown strike that Canada Post and its customers had worried about, 'uncertainty related to the recent resumption of strike activity has caused the company's business to drop significantly,' the courier said in a statement. Delivered parcel volumes are down 65 percent from the same time last year as of Wednesday, according to Canada Post, down from the 50-percent annual drop already experienced at the end of the week prior. The talks coincided with the release of Canada Post's annual report, which revealed that the Crown corporation posted a pre-tax loss of $841 million Canadian dollars ($610 million). Since 2018, Canada Post has racked up pre-tax losses of $3.8 billion Canadian dollars ($2.8 billion). The last time the parcel delivery firm made a profit was 2017. The original month-long strike during the 2024 holiday season took a massive toll on Canada Post's losses in 2024, with negative impact amounting to $208 million Canadian dollars ($151 million). Parcels revenue and volumes—which had already declined through the first three quarters—fell sharply for the full year, by 20.3 percent and 19.9 percent, respectively. The strike, alongside the entrance of more low-cost last-mile delivery entrants in the space, were the primary reasons for the declines. Letter mail, which initially was the backbone of Canada's post office, has seen a substantial decline as well. While Canada Post delivered 5.5 billion letters in 2006, that number since dwindled to 2 billion in 2024 despite there being 3.3 million more addresses throughout the country. On these grounds, the company called its delivery model both 'outdated' and 'unsustainable' various times throughout its annual report. 'Our current structure was built for a bygone era of letter mail—the status quo has led us to the verge of financial insolvency and is not an option,' Doug Ettinger, president and CEO of Canada Post, said in a statement. 'The need to change, respond to our challenges and secure this important infrastructure for the future is more urgent than ever before.' Simpson responded to the report saying that it left out important details, namely a 'failure to raise stamp rates before 2025, even though every other major postal operator raised rates significantly between 2018-2023.' She said the report did not identify how much in costs were related to the Covid-19 pandemic. As the battle at Canada Post rages on, DHL Express preps for a possible work stoppage throughout the country. A group of 2,500 union truck drivers, couriers, warehouse and clerical workers at DHL Express are scheduled to meet with company representatives at the bargaining table this Sunday to continue negotiations on a new deal. Talks are expected to last from Sunday throughout the next week, until June 8. The DHL employees are represented by 320,000-member Unifor, Canada's largest private sector union. Although both parties have already been at the negotiating table for a new contract for 25 days, both sides remain far apart on all issues, the union says. DHL Express has said it is committed to negotiating in good faith, and that the parties have 'made some progress.'
National Post
29-05-2025
- Business
- National Post
Canada Post says strike contributed $208M to the company's $1.3B loss last year
Article content The company also said it has been impacted by the decline in letter mail, which has been steadily trending downward for 20 years. In 2006, Canada Post delivered 5.5 billion letters. Last year, it delivered two billion. The delivery costs are rising as the amount of new addresses increases, making it 'unsustainable' to continue delivering fewer letters to more addresses. The corporation said its focus will shift to parcel delivery, as e-commerce continues to grow. Article content However, this pivot is in direct conflict with the collective agreements it has with CUPW, which 'contain pages and pages of requirements and restrictions that were added decades ago' when Canada Post was 'focused on delivering a large and steady stream of mail,' it said. Article content Article content The union's national president Jan Simpson responded to the annual report in a news release later on Wednesday. She said that the Canada Post's report left out 'many important details that don't support its own message.' Article content She said the report doesn't address its 'failure to raise stamp rates before 2025, even though every other major postal operator raised rates significantly between 2018-2023.' It also doesn't include how much of the losses since 2018 resulted from costs related to the COVID pandemic, she said. Article content The union maintains that the 'best way to right the Corporation's finances is by negotiating ratifiable collective agreements that will help grow parcel volumes, expand services and secure Canada Post's position as the important public service provider that it is.' Article content 'There are almost no changes from what the Employer put forward on May 21,' when the corporation presented offers after receiving strike notice, the union said. Article content The union called out the corporation for refusing to budge on contentious issues, such as part-time staffing and weekend delivery, as well as load-levelling (spreading out the processing and delivery of mail) and dynamic routing (optimizing delivery routes). Article content 'These have been the most challenging issues on the table this round, and now, Canada Post insists that they must be in the next collective agreements,' per the union. Article content The latest offers did not provide improvements on the current wage proposal — a cumulative increase of nearly 14 per cent over four years — or include changes to the short-term disability program 'that would have helped both parties,' the union said. Article content
