Canada Post workers will vote on a final offer after 18 months of stalled contract talks and labor action
Canada’s minister responsible for labor has confirmed she will require a vote on the latest collective agreement proposals from Canada Post, following nearly a year and a half of negotiations with the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW).
Jobs and Families minister Patty Hajdu announced the decision Thursday, citing extended discussions and job actions. “After 18 months of negotiation, over 200 meetings … 33 days of strike and a lockout in the fall,” Hajdu said, a vote is “in the public interest.”
Canada Post, in a statement issued Thursday morning, said it supports the minister’s decision. The Crown corporation said the vote would allow employees to decide on a new collective agreement “at a critical point in our history.”
Later that day, Canada Post spokesperson Jon Hamilton said the vote was a way to involve employees in the path forward. Hamilton stated the corporation is looking to make changes intended to secure the organization for its workers and the communities it serves. He noted that employees will ultimately decide on the proposals.
The union responded with disapproval. CUPW representative Jim Gallant said the union was “disappointed and a bit pissed off” by the decision, adding that the minister was favoring management. Gallant noted that the CUPW had been asked to resume talks with the help of federal mediators in recent weeks, but said that negotiations had not significantly advanced.
Canada Post requested the forced vote in late May, shortly after presenting its final offer. The union has publicly opposed the move. In a statement earlier this month, CUPW called the pending vote “an attack on the most basic rights of trade unions to represent their members.”
Gallant said the current offer would significantly reduce the provisions of the previous collective agreement. He stated that if the membership votes “yes” on the deal, it would amount to a dismantling of hard-won labor protections. While acknowledging that the vote is now inevitable, Gallant made clear that he and many other members plan to reject the deal.
“I can tell you: I get one vote, and my vote will be a ‘no,’ vote, and I know a lot of my friends will be the same,” he said.
