As time is growing short on the Canadian Union of Postal Workers' strike mandate, contract talks with Canada Post are going nowhere fast.
Each side blames the other for the stall.
The union fears the Crown corporation is trying to run out the clock on the union's strike mandate, which expires Aug. 25. A strike mandate allows the union to call for a strike.
But Canada Post says the union is insisting on $1 billion worth of demands that are simply not affordable.
Once the strike mandate expires, CUPW says Canada Post management could unilaterally impose changes in working conditions and the union would be unable to respond.
CUPW could take another strike vote but officials say that's an expensive, time-consuming process and each strike mandate lasts only 60 days. The union intends to propose solutions that would make it possible to continue talks without having to take perpetual strike votes.
A Canada Post spokesman said expiry of the strike mandate shouldn't be an issue if the union is sincere in wanting a negotiated deal. The threat of a possible strike is hurting business as customers look for long-term certainty about the delivery of parcels and direct mail, he added.
He acknowledged that the talks "have not made much progress" thus far. He said Canada Post has offered modest wage increases and a proposal aimed at securing the long-term sustainability of the postal workers' pension plan, whereby new hires would get a less generous, defined contribution plan while existing workers keep their defined benefits plan.
But, Hamilton said, CUPW has rejected the pension proposal and has put "more than a billion dollars in demands on the table and that would certainly impact our ability to provide affordable service to Canadians."
An arbitrator on Tuesday accepted Canada Post's proposal for a new collective agreement with postmasters and assistants in rural offices across the country, including the same change to the pension plan that CUPW is rejecting. CUPW is the only remaining employee group that hasn't accepted the change.
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