In December 2013, Canada Post CEO Deepak Chopra
stunned postal workers as well as the Canadian
public with drastic cutbacks to services, including
the elimination of door-to-door delivery, dramatic
increases in postage prices and cuts to labour costs
through the axing of 8,000 jobs and the franchising
of retail outlets.
Chopra’s plan was hatched on the advice of a Conference
Board report which claimed that Canada
Post Corporation (CPC) would have an operating
budget deficit of $1 billion by the year 2020. Not
coincidentally, Deepak Chopra sat on the Conference
Board and Canada Post paid for the report.
The plan had the blessing of the Harper government
and was executed without any significant consultation
with Canadians.
Canada Post’s corporate spin doctors churned out
doom-and-gloom predictions about the future of the
enterprise that have proven to be patently false.
Canada Post has been a profitable company over the
last two decades, returning billions of dollars to federal
coffers. The smoke-and-mirrors report was discredited
within the first three years.
(In 2011, CPC had run in the red due in part to a
lock-out of postal workers as well as a lost payequity
court case with the Public Service Alliance of
Canada, a 30-year battle which resulted in an estimated
$250 million settlement.)
The most controversial of Chopra’s cuts was the
elimination of door-to-door delivery, which became
a federal election issue that likely contributed to the
defeat of Stephen Harper. All opposing parties campaigned
on restoring door-to- door and improving
postal services. Justin Trudeau and the Liberals
promised a review of Canada Post. But apart from
putting a temporary halt on conversions to group
mailboxes, the Trudeau Liberals in office have left
Chopra at the helm with his cutback plan intact.
His five-year term was set to expire on February 1,
2016. However, he was reappointed by Stephen
Harper before the Conservative government fell as
part of a patronage binge in which the contracts of
33 appointees were extended. Following the election,
the new Liberal House Leader, Dominic Leblanc,
sent a letter to all those appointees requesting
their voluntary resignation. Chopra, who receives an
annual salary of roughly $500,000 plus bonuses,
declined to resign, a message delivered in a letter
written by Sian Matthews, chair of the Board of
Directors of CPC, who is also a Harper appointee.
Some background to the labour conflict
Back in 2011, six months into Chopra’s appointment,
negotiations with the union were already well underway.
On June 2, 2011, CUPW began a series of rotating
strikes. Twelve days later, CPC announced an unprecedented
nationwide lock-out of its employees. While
Canada Post is supposed to be operating at arm’s
length from the federal government, they could not
have locked out their employees without the blessing
of Harper’s anti-worker Conservative government.
The Conservatives then introduced Bill C-6 to legislate
the locked-out postal workers back to work: a
convenient manoeuvre for Chopra and the Conservatives.
A 58-hour filibuster in Parliament led by NDP
leader Jack Layton followed.
The Conservatives had the power to order Chopra
to end the lock-out, but they chose instead to hold
the mail hostage so they could push through their
legislation, which compromised workers’ rights and
set a precedent for undue interference in collective
bargaining.
CUPW challenged Bill C-6 in the courts and on
April 28, 2016, an Ontario Superior Court decision
was rendered. Judge Firestone stated that Bill C-6
“violated postal workers’ freedom of association
and expression in an unjustified manner.” The judge
therefore ruled that Bill C-6 “is declared to have
been unconstitutional and of no force and effect.”
Chopra’s bargaining experience has been limited
to doing the bidding of the Conservative government,
whose ultimate agenda was to undermine the union
and ripen the Crown corporation for privatization.
Flash forward to negotiations 2016, CUPW was
cautiously facing off with a new government, despite
Justin Trudeau’s declaration in an interview prior to
the election that “Canadians need a government,
which instead of attacking unions, works with them
to ensure that every Canadian has a real and fair
chance at success.” The Liberals claim to support
improved pensions, wage equity, fair collective bargaining,
and a public review of Canada Post, but
their mantra is unproven.
What are the issues?
Management came to the table with a long list of
concessions, including cuts to benefits, reduced
health and safety training, two-tier wages and pensions,
the right to close 493 unionized retail outlets
in favour of franchised private outlets, and more
precarious temporary work.
The major objectives of the union include expanding
postal services, protecting benefits and pensions
for the next generation of postal workers, and
achieving pay equity for the Rural and Suburban
Mail Carrier (RSMC) unit, predominantly women
who earn 28-per-cent less than their urban counterparts.
CUPW is also endeavouring to improve health
and safety by bargaining for work methods that do
not cause injuries to workers.
The CPC applied for conciliation early in the process,
all the while displaying an unwillingness to
negotiate seriously. They began to warn their customers
of an impending labour dispute, which they
described as a strike. They were little inclined to
bargain, perhaps hoping the government would rescue
them in the final hour. Postal workers worried
that management would change the working conditions
of the contract and that CUPW would be forced
to strike. In July, CPC gave a 72-hour notice of lockout
but, recognizing that CUPW had no desire to
serve strike notice, they were asked to consider a
30-day extension of the cooling off period. They
agreed but with the caveat that CUPW submit to
binding arbitration at the end of 30 days. CUPW
rejected this proposal and negotiations resumed.
The parties made little progress at the tables while
a 60 day shelf life of the strike mandate ticked away.
CUPW had no choice but to serve their strike notice,
with minimal job action to avoid disrupting service
to the public.
The Liberals appointed a special mediator and
after a week of delayed strike action and aroundthe-
clock bargaining a tentative agreement was
hammered out. The agreement buys CUPW time to
allow the review to be completed and implemented
and pay equity studied and reported. The two-year
agreement resulted in zero concessions, but few
gains for postal workers in either bargaining units.
Banking on the future
CUPW has been campaigning for innovative ways to
expand revenue-generating services. One idea is to
reintroduce postal banking in Canada. The legislation
for a Postal Bank still exists and several former
Canada Post CEOs, including Moya Green, André
Oullette and Michael Warren have supported the
concept. The big six banks made a profit of $35
billion in 2015, while closing branches and making
banking less accessible, especially in rural and Indigenous
communities. However, there are 6,300 post
offices across the country serving those rural communities.
Postal services in 139 countries around the
world offer some form of financial services. Canada
Post already provides money orders and moneygrams.
Over 600 municipalities across Canada have
passed resolutions in support of postal banking.
This will no doubt be a priority for the Canada Post
review, but Canada Post is not willing to discuss this
innovative vision at the bargaining table. Not only is
current management refusing to discuss this, but
they have gone to great lengths to conceal the benefits
of postal banking for Canada. A four-year secret
study was conducted that indicated it would be a
“win-win strategy” and “proven money-maker” for
the corporation. Through an Access to Information
request, Blacklock’s Reporter obtained a copy of the
internal report; however, 701 of the 811 pages were
heavily redacted. To date, Canada Post has refused
to disclose the redacted content of its study.
Delivering community power
On Leap Day, February 29, 2016, CUPW revealed a
new vision summed up in the phrase Delivering
Community Power. It is the collective brainchild of
Friends of Public Services, Canadian Postmasters
and Assistants Association, the Leap Manifesto,
SmartChange.ca, CUPW and ACORN Canada.
The government has committed to respond to climate
change and invest in greener infrastructure.
Delivering Community Power proposes the conversion
of 6,300 post offices across the country to
green community hubs. Imagine electric-vehicle
charging stations at post offices, with solar panels
on the roof. Imagine the country’s largest vehicle
fleet converted to Made-in-Canada electric vehicles.
Imagine letter carriers checking in on seniors and
those with mobility issues. Imagine rural and Indigenous
populations having access to inclusive financial
services. Imagine reinvigorating the abandoned
Food Mail Program, which made food in northern
communities affordable.
Canada Post could become the hub of a greener
economy in all our communities. The infrastructure
exists and, combined with postal banking, Canada
Post can once again become a powerhouse for community
connections. The vision of Delivering Community
Power is limited only by a lack of political
will and the stubborn opposition of the Harper holdouts
currently running the show at Canada Post.
That is why CUPW is standing firm at the bargaining
table and mobilizing in communities everywhere. All
Canadians need to get behind postal workers and
their union to make this vision a reality.
This article appeared in the Autumn 2016 issue of Canadian Dimension (Leap, the Left & the NDP).
Subscribe today and receive every issue of Canadian Dimension hot off the press.
Buy this issue or subscribe.