TENSIONS in Canada's postal service drama are worsening after canada Post rejected a proposal to resolve the stalled contract talks over binding arbitration, reports New York's FreightWaves.
This adds to uncertainty about whether mail carriers will take further action that could halt mail and parcel service.
Members of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) have since May 23 refused to work overtime, resulting in a slowdown for deliveries. The action was taken in lieu of a threatened strike when a government-imposed moratorium on pressure tactics, which ended a 32-day strike in December, expired.
Many e-commerce retailers that rely on Canada Post for last-mile parcel deliveries have switched business to FedEx, UPS and a host of independent couriers, contributing to a 65 per cent year-on-year drop in Canada Post's parcel volumes
The CUPW on Saturday objected to Canada Post's call for the government to go over the union's head and conduct a member vote on its 'best-and-final' offer, saying a forced vote represented an 'unwarranted government intervention in the free collective bargaining process' and would not result in lasting labour peace between the parties.
The union countered with a proposal for binding arbitration to resolve all outstanding issues over wages, benefits, job protection and working conditions.
During the arbitration process, employees cannot strike and the employer cannot lock out the employees. Those conditions wouldn't apply in the event of a forced vote, according to the union.
Canada Post is pushing for dynamic structuring of delivery routes each day based on parcel volumes, load levelling among drivers to more evenly spread the workload and a lighter regulatory hand so it can lower parcel rates to more competitive levels, among other changes.
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This adds to uncertainty about whether mail carriers will take further action that could halt mail and parcel service.
Members of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) have since May 23 refused to work overtime, resulting in a slowdown for deliveries. The action was taken in lieu of a threatened strike when a government-imposed moratorium on pressure tactics, which ended a 32-day strike in December, expired.
Many e-commerce retailers that rely on Canada Post for last-mile parcel deliveries have switched business to FedEx, UPS and a host of independent couriers, contributing to a 65 per cent year-on-year drop in Canada Post's parcel volumes
The CUPW on Saturday objected to Canada Post's call for the government to go over the union's head and conduct a member vote on its 'best-and-final' offer, saying a forced vote represented an 'unwarranted government intervention in the free collective bargaining process' and would not result in lasting labour peace between the parties.
The union countered with a proposal for binding arbitration to resolve all outstanding issues over wages, benefits, job protection and working conditions.
During the arbitration process, employees cannot strike and the employer cannot lock out the employees. Those conditions wouldn't apply in the event of a forced vote, according to the union.
Canada Post is pushing for dynamic structuring of delivery routes each day based on parcel volumes, load levelling among drivers to more evenly spread the workload and a lighter regulatory hand so it can lower parcel rates to more competitive levels, among other changes.
SeaNews Turkey
