Why the vote and why change is needed
June 20, 2025, 03:09 pm
17 comments
As we’ve shared before, our preference has always been to reach agreements with CUPW and have it proceed to an employee ratification vote. After a year and a half of discussions, the assistance of established mediators, four global offers and an Industrial Inquiry Commission hearing and report, the parties unfortunately remain at a major impasse.
Another path to a resolution vote in the Canada Labour Code is for the Minister of Jobs and Families to direct that a vote be held on the employer’s latest offer, when they believe that it’s in the public interest for employees to be given that opportunity.
We requested a vote from the Minister because it was clear that there was no path to resolution through further negotiations. This allows employees to vote and decide whether to accept or reject an agreement. It gives employees the opportunity to have a voice, especially as we begin to implement needed changes.
What it means for you
As a CUPW-represented employee, you will now have the opportunity to vote on the offer that applies to you (CUPW-Urban or CUPW-RSMC). If approved, the offer would become your new collective agreement.
Why change our delivery model?
To be competitive in the parcel delivery market, we must evolve our delivery model. Our current approach is no longer suited to the demands of today’s customers, and is not aligned with where the market is headed. If we’re serious about reclaiming our position as Canada’s leading parcel delivery company, we need to act now.
Declining parcel volumes over the past few years have made this challenge even more urgent. You’ve seen this reality firsthand, and it was a key point during recent negotiations.
We’ve proposed phased, gradual changes designed to help us rebuild and grow our parcel business. This is not just essential to improving our service offering, it is essential to sustain the improvements we’ve made – such as wage increases and signing bonuses – and to safeguard the benefits, job security, and pensions included in our offers.
As outlined in our full offers to CUPW, our goal is to preserve a national public service, protect jobs, and responsibly adapt to the evolving landscape.
What to expect
The Minister’s directive sets clear expectations for both parties during the vote. Both parties shall cooperate to establish the voting list, make information on the offers available to eligible voters and participate in “any manner the CIRB deems necessary to facilitate the conduct of the votes.”
We will continue to provide clear and factual information on the offers to help you understand their contents, and how it would impact you if ratified through a vote.
More information
- Visit canadapost.ca/offers to learn about the offers.
- Read the Dynamic Routing fact sheet.
- Read the load leveling fact sheet.
- Read the full contractual language of the offer for the Urban bargaining unit and the full contractual language of the offer for the RSMC bargaining unit.
- Read the Minister’s directive to the CIRB.
Stay informed
We’re working to provide employees with the information they need to make an informed choice when they vote. Stay tuned for further updates and visit the Negotiations Hub to sign up for email updates directly to your inbox.
CUPW RSMC
Oh my. You say you are a long time RSMC. Do you remember when you had to bid on your route? When you got paid about half as much? When you had no benefits? No pension? Now that you are in the union you are ready to fold on a horrible offer just because “at least they aren’t laying us off”.”so what if they hire PT workers?” This kind of thinking will land you back where you started in 2002. If this vote passes you will never again have a voice in negotiations. CPC will just wait and let the government mandate you what it wants. Grow a spine already. RSMCs of all people should know what it means to have no say in their future.
Well it would certainly suck to keep relying on government handouts. Can the corporation even break even any longer.
You are relying on a very dated model..
I’m just happy to have the offer.
Yeah I remember being a contractor. In fact I started as a sub-contractor covering holidays and sick days almost 50 years ago. For almost 30 years Cupw did absolutely nothing to help out the RSMC people. And when we finally did convince them to allow us to join the union they still refused to get us equal pay for flyers and our delivery and sort time. Also for the first 4 years I made less money as an employee than I did as a contractor. They still keep us separated from the urban contract as if we are second class workers. So not much respect for the union here.
Truth is that our union is causing more harm than good to CPC. Everyone that works with the mail can see how parcel and mail volumes are way down since the mid winter strike. Lets face reality here. The wage increase in the offer looks good, we still have our pensions and benefits and so what if CPC hires partime workers. At least they arent laying us off
You sound reasonable and thoughtful. Let’s hope we are in the majority. At least 50% +1.
You sound like management posing as a RSMC. Nothing reasonable about you
Parcel and mail volumes are down when they intentionally squander the business away and then want to make the workers pay for it.
Parcel and mail volume is down because of the threat of a work stoppage.
Think long term. If the company had it’s way we wouldn’t get paid at all.
The union got you fair pay after decades of abusing RSMCs. More harm than good? Seriously? Thia strike should not have happened. Cpc is purposely wasting money to show a loss. Isn’t that obvious? A yes vote to this final offer is a golden ticket to CPC to never have to negotiate another contract again. Why do you think they don’t want arbitration? It is because we will get a far better deal than CPC is offering. We must have a strong NO vote or we will regress back to the old ways in time. Do not be fooled by management promises. Get out and vote when the time comes and tell CPC that we won’t be ignored.
We will NEVER get a better deal in arbitration. Dont know how you figure that we will. Show me precedent that CUPW got a better deal with arbitration ever. Dont believe the scare tactics being fed to you by CUPW. They have trouble with simple math.
CUPW wants to go to arbitration, so they can blame the final result on the arbitrator and the government. If members vote ‘yes’,then that’s a direct rejection of the union. That’s why they fought so hard against having a vote at all.
I agree that union wants arbitration as an offramp to blame someone other than themselves for the awful arb that we will get. Again…in no way, shape, or form we get a better deal in arb
I just had a look at the hourly wage breakdown that CUPW says is so terrible, it seems more than fair to me, this isn’t rocket science. You do realize that is more than most of the postmaster get, I wouldn’t want that kind of responsibility. I think this needs to be over! There is no job security if it comes to layoff.
Agreed
You’ve tried like 3 different delivery models in the past 10 years. Maybe you guys should recognize that you don’t know what you’re doing and you should actually listen to the people that do the job as to how to fix what you broke.
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