Canada Post sends ‘final offers’ to union amid mounting financial struggle

Canada Post says it has made its “final offers” to the union representing its workers, in a bid to end the ban on overtime work and prevent a larger strike.

The Crown corporation says its latest offer to the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) on Wednesday is an “enhanced offer” from the one it made last week, despite its latest financial report showing mounting financial challenges.

The offers “protect what’s most important to employees while making important enhancements that build on the company’s most recent offers,” a statement from Canada Post said.

“The final offers also act on the recommendations of the Industrial Inquiry Commission (IIC) with much-needed changes to the company’s delivery model.”

Under the new offers, Canada Post says employees will receive a signing bonus of $1,000 or $500, depending on their role. The cost-of-living allowance payments will have a lower inflation threshold, meaning they will get triggered with inflation at 7.16 per cent instead of 13.59 per cent.

The company said it will also end mandatory overtime.

4:21 Canada Post union imposes overtime ban

Canada Post is remaining firm on its original wage offer of six per cent in the first year, followed by three per cent in the second year and two per cent in each of the following two years, for a compounded total of 13.59 per cent.

However, it says it is moving on some other key issues.

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.

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CUPW late Wednesday accused Canada Post of “playing hardball” and ignoring some of its demands.

In a statement, national president Jan Simpson took particular issue with what she said were Canada Post’s insistence to urban postal workers that part-time “flex staffing,” weekend delivery and “dynamic routing” are “non-negotiable.”

“These have been the most challenging issues on the table this round, and now, Canada Post insists that they must be in the next collective agreements,” Simpson said. “On other big issues, Canada Post outright ignored our positions.

“Canada Post says this was its final offer. But this fight is far from over.”

The latest annual report from Canada Post, also released Wednesday, showed the “significant challenges” the company faces “continued to mount” last year.

The Crown corporation posted a nearly $1.3 billion operating loss for 2024, the report said, while revenues fell by $800 million, or 12.2 per cent, compared to 2023.

The report said last year’s month-long national strike, which was part of these same contract negotiations, “contributed a net negative impact of $208 million” toward the company’s $841-million loss before tax.

“Revenue fell much more than costs during the strike period,” a news release said.

It added that the federal government’s loan this year of up to $1 billion, while helping keep the company afloat, “will not solve Canada Post’s structural issues.”

CUPW said in a separate statement responding to the annual report that Canada Post ignores its own failures that contributed its financial struggles.

“The best way to right the corporation’s finances is by negotiating ratifiable collective agreements that will help grow parcel volumes, expand services and secure Canada Post’s position as the important public service provider that it is,” Simpson said.

The federally commissioned IIC report, released on May 15, warned Canada Post is “facing an existential crisis: It is effectively insolvent, or bankrupt.” It recommended the national mail carrier phase out door-to-door delivery and close some post offices, particularly in rural areas.

2:05 Canada Post facing ‘existential crisis’ as union issues strike notice

Canada Post has lost roughly $4 billion since 2018, Wednesday’s annual report said.

Parcel revenues and volumes, which have been falling for years in the face of competition from carriers like Amazon and UPS, continued to fall last year, with 56 million fewer parcels delivered compared to 2023. That led to a revenue decline of $683 million year-over-year, according to the report.

As of Tuesday, the union said the national overtime ban it started last Friday will remain in effect.

Under the overtime ban, the union says in addition to refusing to work more than a certain number of hours, letter carriers are also to return to their depot and drop off their mail whether they have completed their routes or not. Rural and suburban mail carriers are to do the same.

Part-time and temporary workers are allowed to extend their hours to a maximum of eight hours per day, 40 hours per week, the union said.

Collective agreements between Canada Post and CUPW expired on Thursday, with the union having given a 72-hour strike notice last Monday and then opting Friday for an overtime ban, which is a legal strike action.