Thoughts on BC Politics and More

... “If this vote passes, we give Canada Post the green light to steamroll workers now and in the future ... By saying yes, we tell them that it’s acceptable to ignore free and fair collective bargaining, dismiss our union’s democratic processes and structures and send a message to governments that it’s OK to trample over your rights as a worker” ... ... Canada Post is at an impasse with the union representing roughly 55,000 postal service workers after more than a year and a half of talks ... CLICK HERE for the full story

The saga at Canada Post continues, and once again the government is heeding management’s call to bail them out.  On May 30, Canada Post requested that new minister of jobs and families (Canada no longer has a minister of labour, if you hadn’t heard), Patty Hajdu, force Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) members to vote directly on the crown corporation’s “final” offer.  Canada Post’s ostensible final offer to the 55,000 members of CUPW included a compounded wage increase of 13.59 per cent over four years and up to $1,000 as a signing bonus, but still contained plans to expand part-time work and significantly reorganize the labour process ... CLICK HERE for the full story 

On Friday, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) imposed an overtime ban at Canada Post, the first of what could prove to be a series of escalating job actions if new collective agreements are not soon reached. CUPW issued Canada Post a 72-hour strike notice on May 20, after which the employer tabled final offers that the union said “fall short.” Despite the shortcomings, the union requested a two-week “truce” to consider the proposals more fully, which Canada Post flatly rejected. As a strike deadline approached on May 22, it looked as though a full nation-wide work stoppage would resume. However, after having its previous strike suspended by the federal government, the union has instead opted for a more measured approach, for now. The current situation was entirely predictable. When the government interfered with CUPW’s strike in December, it effectively undermined the union’s strategic power without helping to resolve the underlying issues driving the strike — most notably, Ca...

It’s been a year since I wrote Preparing for Canada Post's Imminent Collapse. Granted, by at least some definitions of the word “collapse”, my prophecy has yet to materialize. Although when you add the coming strike to the 32 day labour disruption from late last year, junk mail-free days may well end up outnumbering junk mail deliveries for the foreseeable future. The truth is that I don’t enjoy thinking about Canada Post and its troubles. I rarely use the service myself and reading through their annual reports and external analyses can be downright depressing. The Crown corporation, in its current form, is unable to escape a combination of a letter delivery market destroyed by email and other digital technologies, a parcel delivery space where they just can’t compete, and labour costs unconnected to business value ... CLICK HERE for the full story

As Canada Post and the union representing its workers inch closer to another potential strike, a report by the commission charged with examining the Crown corporation's finances has called for the end of door-to-door mail delivery to homes — one of the main reasons for the previous work stoppage in November. But the report, authored by industrial inquiry commissioner William Kaplan, also says that daily delivery to businesses should be maintained. The service cut would help the corporation's overall bleak financial picture, the report notes, a situation it highlights in great detail ... CLICK HERE for the full story