| Jul 20, 2016


Canada Post and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers remain in a legal lockout/strike position. Either side is poised to give 72 hours notice of their intention to suspend the service indefinitely.

Nonetheless, after playing a game of chicken for a couple of weeks earlier in the month, leading up to a final deadline on July 10, a sudden shift took place. The two parties returned to the bargaining table and, based on the almost daily updates from the union, seem to be working slowly through some of the more technical, less contentious (i.e. less expensive) issues. Again, according to CUPW, the coming week might be key, as the two big issues: pensions and pay equality between rural and urban carriers, may be addressed.

“Will this be the week we start to see movement on the major demands that we still need to achieve? Only time will tell” was the crux of a short statement on the CUPW website on Monday, July 18.

For their part, Canada Post stated last week and reiterated today that postal service is secure for the time being as negotiations continue.

“Discussions between the company and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) continue with the objective of reaching negotiated settlements. The postal service is open for business while negotiations continue. Mail and parcels are being processed and delivered across the country as normal,” said the Canada Post press release on Tuesday morning, July 19.

In other words, after a month of warnings about service interruption, the message they are sending is that the service is now secure going forward.

It seems clear that during the seven months that passed between the end date of the old contract and the lockout/strike deadline, the two sides did not really negotiate in earnest. They met, they laid out their positions in broad terms, they called in mediators, but they never talked; there was no give and take. But they did charge that the other side was being unreasonable at every opportunity

It also seems clear that the whole pre-negotiation game was all about was testing the resolve, not only of each other, but of the Trudeau government.

The government made it clear early on that, unlike the Harper government, they were not going to legislate an end to the dispute. The last time the two sides tried to negotiate a contract, in 2011, it led to a two-week lockout that was ended by a parliamentary decree, which sent the matter to binding arbitration.

The government suggested mediation a few says before the date Canada Post had set for a lockout, and Canada Post agreed but CUPW rejected that proposal. However, just as the two sides were seemingly headed for an impasse, which could easily have meant the end to mail service for the rest of the summer, something else happened.

What that was we don't know. We know that the Minister of Workforce Development and Labour, Maryanne Mihychuk, issued a statement urging both sides to negotiate about eight hours before the deadline on July 10.

What we don't know is if, behind the scenes, she or her officials applied pressure to Canada Post to pull back from their lockout threat and sit down with the union, or if Canada Post decided on their own that the consequences of a service interruption with no end in sight were too dire for their long-term interests to withstand.

It's easy to see what Canada Post wants: lower labor costs and more flexibility. CUPW wants more security, better pay for all workers, and to protect pensions.

The Trudeau government has a lot at stake as well, and their situation is more complicated. They courted the union vote during the recent election, but if the negotiations result in gains for the union, it may weaken their own position when they bargain with their own employees.

The frustrating thing for small-scale corporate customers, such as this newspaper, is that we pay a lot of money to Canada Post for a service that we need, and we will have no security that we will be able to continue using that service until a contract is signed.

So we read the tea leaves as every press release comes out, trying to fathom if the two sides are on the verge of a settlement or on the verge of a work stoppage.

There are a lot of variables to consider in small business, but something like this, which is completely out of our control, is particularly frustrating.

For now, all we know is that as long as notice has not been given each week by Tuesday morning, we can put the paper together, secure in the knowledge that we can mail it out on Thursday and it will be delivered.

Beyond that, we have no idea what will happen the next week.

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