Canada Post has announced it has presented the Canadian Union of Postal Workers with a new offer.
Workers walked off the job on Thursday, Sept. 25, following an announcement by Prime Minister Mark Carney that the federal Crown corporation would have to be transformed in order to remain viable – starting with the phasing out of door-to-door delivery during the next nine years in favour of community mailboxes, and the closure of some rural post offices.
"The offers enable the company’s modernization while balancing its financial realities with fairness and respect for employees," said Canada Post spokesperson Lisa Liu on the new offer.
The corporation is now offering workers compounded wage increases of 13.59 per cent over four years; "industry-leading defined" benefit pension; health benefits and post-retirement benefits; up to seven weeks vacation and pre-retirement leave; and a cost of living allowance that protects against the effects of unforeseen inflation.
This is in addition to the key provisions for employees that were in the corporation's offer that was presented on May 28.
However, due to what the company says is their deteriorating financial situation, a signing bonus for employees is no longer on the table.
The company is also proposing what they say is a fair and balanced approach to managing the size of its workforce in the urban bargaining unit.
Canada Post said they cannot maintain the existing “job security for life” provisions for employees in the urban unit. This would require the company to continue to provide full pay to an employee until they decide to leave, even if there is no work for them.
Instead, the company is proposing an exception process limited to its implementation of the government's direction.
"Canada Post is proposing a transparent workforce adjustment process that includes six months’ notice to CUPW, a period of consultation with the union, voluntary departure incentives of up to 78 weeks’ base pay, and seniority-based bidding and bumping," said the company in a statement.
"Layoffs will only be used if other measures, including attrition and departure incentives, prove insufficient to achieve reduction targets," added the company, noting that with thousands of employees set to retire over the next few years, reducing the size of the workforce through attrition will always be the first choice, But, they added, it cannot be the only option through this transformation.
"Laid-off employees would retain recall rights for two years, continue to accrue seniority, and may access the corporation’s supplementary employment benefits plan, which provides a salary top-up for up to two years. If not recalled within the two-year timeframe, impacted employees would receive severance pay (plus pay in lieu of notice) in accordance with the Canada Labour Code," explained the company.
Canada Post is still looking to remove the rural moratorium that protects 493 corporate post offices from closure. The corporation says these post offices should no longer be classified as rural as they are now located in urban and suburban areas due to population growth.
Removing the provision, the company said, would provide them with greater flexibility to align the corporation’s post office network with the modern needs of Canadians, particularly in these overserved communities.
It also will enable them to better focus limited resources on protecting services in rural, remote, northern and Indigenous communities, they said.
"Canada Post’s new offers are within the limit of what the corporation can afford while maintaining good jobs and benefits for employees over the long-term," noted Liu.
Canada Post maintains its critical financial situation has worsened over the last year with two national strikes by the postal workers union that shut down the postal system across the country and drove more customers to competitors.
The new measures announced by the federal government, said the corporation, are meant to help renew and restore the postal service, "so that it aligns with the needs of the country, returns to financial sustainability, and avoids taxpayer-funded government bailouts."
The union is reviewing the latest offer and has yet to comment.
The sudden announcement came as a shock to workers, said those on the picket line at the Maple Ridge Canada Post office in the 20800-block of Lougheed Highway this week.
