CUPW negotiations: CUPW’s latest offer would add billions of dollars in unsustainable fixed costs to Canada Post

December 11, 2024, 11:17 am 7 comments

Canada Post has carefully reviewed the latest offers from the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) and determined that the union’s demands are unaffordable and unsustainable – adding billions of dollars in long-term fixed costs.

Added up, all the demands in CUPW’s latest offers would cost more than $3 billion over four years, at a time when the postal service is already recording large financial losses. Some of the big-ticket items include wage increases and staffing changes. Canada Post will record another significant loss in 2024, the seventh consecutive annual loss for the Corporation. Since 2018, Canada Post has lost more than $3 billion.

The union’s demands would also further reinforce the status quo, when the postal service must transform to meet the changing needs of Canadians and businesses. The latest CUPW offers for the Urban and RSMC (Rural and Suburban Mail Carriers) units do not address Canada Post’s urgent requirements to modernize its operations.

We understand the strike is having a huge impact on employees, small businesses, charities and communities across the country. We remain committed to reaching negotiated agreements and have put forward proposals that are fair, balanced and would bring much-needed flexibility to our delivery model.

We wanted to share more information on CUPW’s latest offer, why it is far from where we need to be, and how it’s widening the gap in negotiations.

Wages

• The union has proposed wage increases of 19% over four years – including a 9% increase in the first year – while Canada Post has offered wage hikes of 11.5% over four years (11.97% compounded).
• While we recognize that CUPW has moved on its wage demands, the union’s proposal remains well beyond what the Corporation can afford, given its significant losses and deteriorating financial position.

Personal/medical days

• CUPW is demanding 10 medical days a year on top of the seven personal days already in the collective agreement.
• Canada Post is proposing 13 multi-use personal days per year, protected and built into the collective agreement. This includes the six additional personal days per year that employees received as a result of changes to the Canada Labour Code in 2022. Employees would have flexibility on how to use the six additional days (e.g. personal day, vacation, sick leave, etc.).

Making contracted staff permanent employees

• The union continues to focus on adding workers they don’t represent, which would add further unsustainable long-term fixed costs for Canada Post. For example, CUPW continues to demand that our facility cleaning staff and other contracted support services become permanent Canada Post employees.
• Canada Post encourages CUPW to focus on the terms and conditions of employment for the people they actually represent.

Flexible and affordable delivery

• To better serve customers and align with their evolving needs, we need a delivery model that allows us to deliver seven days a week and more quickly adapt to the growing ecommerce market.
• Canada Post has proposed creating new staffing positions that would support weekend delivery, providing permanent jobs with guaranteed hours and benefits.
• The Corporation has also proposed measures (dynamic routing) that would allow it to plan and optimize delivery routes based on volumes, delivery addresses and pickups. Although the Corporation has signalled that a dynamic routing model is necessary to secure its future and remain competitive, the union has refused to engage or propose any solutions regarding dynamic routing.

Stay informed

Watch for further updates on the Negotiations Hub. On the Negotiations Hub, you can also sign up for email updates, directly to your inbox.

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