Canada Post: National Lockout!

The Corporation has locked out postal workers across Canada late Tuesday night and shut down all of its urban operations from coast to coast. After 12 days of rotating strikes, Canada Post has said it had no choice but to make this decision. An article published on the Canada Post web site (see entire article below) has described the impact of the rotating strikes on short-term revenue as amounting to losses approaching $100 million, a number they say is going up daily.

We believe that a lockout is the best way to bring a timely resolution to this impasse and force the union to seriously consider proposals that address declining mail volumes and the $3.2-billion pension deficit.

There have been questions floating around the union turning this into a national strike to force Canada Post to capitulate however it seems that the Corporation has turned the tables and prompted a national shut-down to force the workers to do so. So who’s going to blink first in this game of brinkmanship?

Tuesday evening, CUPW announced the next strike action to be a 24 hour walk-out starting at 11pm in three communities: Salmon Arm, BC, Carboneer, NFLD, and Sioux Lookout, ON. Now all of Canada is off the job. Service in the entire country is shut down starting today, Wednesday, June 15, 2011. Newspapers are reporting that union representatives have not reacted with surprise over this move considering it a manoeuvre on the part of Canada Post to try and get the government to legislate CUPW back to work and possibly force an unfavourable collective agreement on the workers.

Service Canada has published an article entitled “What you need to know in the event of a full Postal Strike“. The fact that this document exists raises the question of whether or not CUPW is going to stick with rotating strikes. If the union feels this is not providing sufficient leverage against Canada Post to meet their demands, will they opt for a national strike?

However, the more interesting aspect of the document is its contents. Service Canada is recommending direct deposits to ensure payments get to Canadians. It is also recommending using web services to do various functions like filing a tax return or filling in the 2011 census. Canada Post has stated quite clearly that its business has been drastically reduced over these past few years as people turn more and more to on-line services. Payments can be made electronically which means more and more bills are being paid over the web and even invoices and bill statements are being delivered electronically. Society is slowly becoming more paperless. While CUPW seems to doubt this statement from Canada Post or is just ignoring it, here is the Canadian federal government recommending to its citizens to do exactly that: don’t mail, do it electronically.

Uploaded by ANewsVanIsland on Jun 14, 2011

Mail Delivery Down – CUPW Frustration Up

The government is stepping in to bring the Air Canada strike to a legislated end — but there’s no talk of government intervention for the Canada Post strike as it nears the second week. Today postal workers all over the country showed up for work, but were turned away. Canada Post says mail deliveries will only happen on Monday, Wednesday and Fridays during the strike. The company says its lost 65 million dollars and mail volume is down 50% since the union began rotating strikes on June 3rd. CUP-W union members say there is plenty of mail to sort and deliver and they accuse Canada Post of playing games.

Canada Post – June 14/2011

Canada Post Forced to Shut Down Urban Operations Nationwide

http://clients.infopost.ca/en/2011/06/canada-post-forced-to-shut-down-urban-operations-nationwide/

Following 12 days of increasingly costly rotating strikes by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW), Canada Post has suspended operations across the country.

The accelerating decline in mail volumes and revenue combined with the inability to deliver mail on a timely and safe basis has left Canada Post with no choice but to make this decision.

Specifically, we have taken this action for the following reasons:

* Rotating strikes have had a significant impact on short-term revenue. Canada Post’s losses are approaching $100 million since the rotating strikes began – and that figure is climbing daily;

* Over the past few days, several incidents have raised concerns about the ability to move the mail while keeping employees and customers safe;

* Canada Post and CUPW remain far apart on several fundamental issues and there has been no progress made at the negotiating table for weeks.

If we allow the uncertainty created by the rotating strikes to continue, we will not be able to remain financially self-sufficient and risk becoming a burden on Canadian taxpayers.

We believe that a lockout is the best way to bring a timely resolution to this impasse and force the union to seriously consider proposals that address declining mail volumes and the $3.2-billion pension deficit.

Canada Post continues to believe that the best result from this round of bargaining is a negotiated settlement.

The company had hoped to reach an agreement without a disruption in postal services, which is why the company has made every effort to protect the pay, pension and job security of existing employees.

Plans are in place to secure all mail that is left in the system during the lockout, and to resume normal operations quickly once the current situation is resolved.

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