Canada Post’s unionized workers are starting to vote on what the Crown corporation calls its “final” offers, even as the union urges members to reject the proposals.
The vote began Monday at 7 a.m. eastern and will continue until 5 p.m. on Aug. 1.
The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) represents more than 53,000 members.
The offer from Canada Post includes a wage increase, a signing bonus, and maintaining a defined benefit pension and job security clauses.
The company said it will also end mandatory overtime.
The company is no longer proposing a new health benefits plan, changes to employees’ post-retirement benefits or enrolling future employees in the defined contribution pension.
The Crown corporation is facing “significant challenges” and posted a nearly $1.3-billion operating loss for 2024, while revenues fell by $800 million, or 12.2 per cent, compared with 2023.
Jim Gallant, a CUPW negotiator, told Global BC on Sunday that the union is hoping members vote no so the parties can “get back to the table and get a negotiated settlement.”
“The big thing about the no vote is if people vote no, it’s not going to be Jim Gallant sitting at the table saying, ‘This is what we want,’ I’m going to have 55,000 behind myself and the other negotiators because the members of the union will have said, ‘No, that’s not good enough and Canada Post is going to have to do better,’” Gallant said.
But Canada Post said in a statement on Saturday that it hopes employees “see that these final offers provide certainty for you and your customers,” and said the vote was confidential.
“It’s a big decision, and you’ve likely heard a lot about the vote and our final offers,” the Crown corporation wrote in a post on X. “Like any vote, it’s ultimately about what you believe is best for you.”
In its post, Canada Post said the offer would begin to make “critical changes” to help the Crown corporation grow its parcel business to meet the “evolving needs” of Canadian businesses and Canadians.
According to Canada Post, if the offers are accepted by members, they will become new four-year collective agreements that will stay in place until Jan. 31, 2028.
The nearly two-week vote comes after Minister of Jobs and Families Patty Hajdu asked the Canada Industrial Relations Board in June to put the Crown corporation’s latest offers to a vote directly by members of the union following stalled negotiations.
That process was criticized Thursday by CUPW president Jan Simpson, who called it “plagued by chaos, confusion, and uncertainty,” and said some members have informed the union they could not register their emails.
Canada Post and the CUPW have been engaged in a more than 18-month-long period of negotiations and subsequent strike activity, which the Crown corporation says increased the company’s financial losses at a rate of $10 million per day in June.