Canada Post is now reviewing the latest proposals from the union for a new contract after the parties returned to the bargaining table Wednesday following a delay.
The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) said its latest offers “deliver the improvements postal workers need in their collective agreements.”
“From the start of bargaining, we’ve said postal workers need ratifiable collective agreements. These offers get us there,” CUPW national president Jan Simpson said in a statement.
Canada Post said in a brief statement that further meetings are scheduled for Friday and Monday, with federal mediators providing assistance as they did Wednesday.
“The company is currently reviewing the union’s response and will be seeking further clarification as needed,” it said.
“Canada Post remains committed to reaching new collective agreements through the bargaining process.”
The union’s new offers include a total 19 per cent wage increase over four years, along with a cost of living allowance system that triggers additional payments during periods of high inflation. There are also improvements to benefits and paid leave.
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CUPW members rejected Canada Post’s “best and final offers” earlier this month after a two-week vote administered by the Canada Industrial Relations Board.
Those offers included wage hikes of about 13 per cent over four years and restructuring to add part-time workers to the collective agreement.
The CUPW offer for urban postal workers, which are bargaining separately from rural carriers, proposes a weekend parcel delivery system that only uses full-time workers.
The union has long called for Canada Post to bring back weekend parcel delivery in order to better compete against Amazon and other private delivery companies like UPS and Purolator.
Canada Post has said the part-time jobs will create stability and predictability for people looking for flexible work. It also says it helps the financially-struggling company find savings, which the union says can be found elsewhere.
The offer from the union’s urban unit also demands an end to contracted workers and limits for forced overtime.
Last week, the union and the company said a lack of available federal mediators prevented the two sides from sitting down on Friday and this past Monday.
CUPW said in a statement that federal mediators were unable to assist “due to their current involvement in the Air Canada negotiations.”
Those negotiations concluded early Tuesday morning when Air Canada and the union for its flight attendants reached a tentative collective agreement.
In a statement, CUPW national president Jan Simpson said that deal showed “what can be achieved when workers stand united.”
CUPW members rejected Canada Post’s “best and final offers” earlier this month after a two-week vote administered by the Canada Industrial Relations Board.
The union has been calling on Canada Post to restart negotiations ever since its members rejected the company’s latest offers. Wednesday’s talks marked the first sit-down between the parties following the vote.
Negotiations between the two parties for a new collective agreement have been ongoing for more than a year and a half.
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