POSTAL LOCKOUT/STRIKE UPDATE: BINDING ARBITRATION PROPOSED BY GOVT

[momcqueen]

Good news overnight on the looming postal lockout/strike front. To paraphrase The Godfather, the federal government has made an offer they can't refuse. 

https://www.canadapost.ca/web/en/blogs/announcements/details.page?article=2016/07/06/canada_post_pre...

Canada Post Prepared to Submit to Binding Arbitration

Federal Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour, MaryAnn Mihychuk, has asked both Canada Post and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW-Urban and CUPW-RSMC) to submit to binding arbitration to resolve the current impasse at negotiations.

The Canada Post Corporation has already agreed. "It is our hope that CUPW will consider submitting to binding arbitration to end the uncertainty. Canada Post is extending the current 72-hour notice period to Monday at 12:01 am to provide time for the union to consider this option."

It would be suicide for the unions to refuse, although I do expect they will make a show of doing so and wait until the final moments to concede. Binding arbitration is the best we can hope for at this point.

[marnotom!]

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@bcwet wrote:

They should let their members vote on binding arbitration! They did not drop their coute case against CPC but we're willing to if granted another 30 day extension. They just came off of an extension and doubled down on their offer going as far as wanting concessions from 2012 back! Most unions would be happy to go to binding arbitration but cupw would like to stall this negotiation until September a much busier time when businesses can be hurt much more than during the summer.

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What court case against CPC?  The complaint filed with the Canada Industrial Relations Board is not a court case.

Do you know why they want concessions from several years ago?  Because the Harper government's legislated settlement process was ruled illegal and unconstitutional.  There's a lot of catching up to do in this round of negotiations, like it or not.

This is the latest from CUPW on binding arbitration:

http://www.cupw.ca/en/cpc-once-again-chooses-arbitration-over-negotiations

CPC wants arbitration because they prefer to have a government appointed arbitrator to decide our contracts. They know arbitration is a very lengthy, costly process which always leads to rollbacks. Issues such as pensions, health and safety, work measurement, pay equity, wages, benefit plans and job security usually require many “expert witnesses” to provide evidence. The 1997 arbitration lasted two years and there was never a decision issued. In 2011 the government appointed two arbitrators that were later removed by the courts because of a lack of proper qualifications and an apprehension of bias, respectively. With the many complex issues in the current negotiation a proper arbitration process would be very lengthy.

[cumos55]

It used to be that Canada Post would deliver a parcel to your residence  and leave the parcel at the residence,  when you are not home........

With community mailboxes  they leave it in a compartment  and you as the recipient get a key  that opens the compartment.

It was only recently   that you can sign up for a special option ... no extra cost.... where all of your parcels are held at a postal outlet   for pickup.....  This works if you get a lot of parcels on a regular basis...  The community mailbox is not overloaded ... or alternatively....  No parcel is lost if left unattended at your residence.

This new system of parcel delivery has a unique name... Flex delivery.....

Link to 

https://www.canadapost.ca/web/en/blogs/announcements/details.page?article=2016/06/17/canada_posts_in...

[cumos55]

Usually if a parcel is not delivered to your residence..... You would have to pick it up at a postal outlet..... and sometimes  they may even leave it at your residence unattended...... heaven forbid

If you buy lots on line you can use Flex Delivery.....  and redirect all parcels for an easy pickup at a postal outlet... anywhere in Canada

This could get interesting as tracking would show a different point of delivery than you address on eBay or Paypal....

This is for incoming mail

and... If other postal services.. other countries.... start using this    tracking could get very interesting......   a buyer can change  the point of delivery  without asking the seller to do so.....

Tracking should show  ... Flex delivery..... to a postal outlet ... but with pick up by the recipient....  Theoretically it was delivered to the address on the parcel

-----------------------------------------------

This is another indication  that Canada Post is focusing on options for delivery of on-line purchases, and not overloading the delivery option to a specific address during the day.

It is easier to deliver many parcels on a regular basis to a postal outlet  than to a community mailbox.....

[fort2b]

getting a little fed up.

time for Trudeau to put his man pants on and take action

tired of being a pawn in this game

[marnotom!]

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@fort2b wrote:

getting a little fed up.

time for Trudeau to put his man pants on and take action

tired of being a pawn in this game

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Harper's attempt to "take action" with legislation in the last CPC/CUPW dispute was ruled by the Ontario Superior Court as being illegal and unconstitutional.

[femmefan1946]

This could get interesting as tracking would show a different point of delivery than you address on eBay or Paypal....

This is for incoming mail

Every time I have picked up at a postal outlet I had to show appropriate ID (difficult for someone who has never had a driver's license) and sign.

Is this true even for small packets?

And wouldn't that take care of any 'proof of delivery' questions?

[pjcdn2005]

For the past 5+ years, 95% of my packages have to be picked up at an outlet and th other 5% are left in my community mail box.  Those packages are all deemed to be delivered to my address.  

[momcqueen]

https://www.canadapost.ca/web/en/blogs/announcements/details.page?article=2016/07/08/canada_post_agr...

Canada Post agrees to 30-day extension followed by binding arbitration  Posted on July 08, 2016 by Canada Post in News Releases

OTTAWA – Canada Post has informed the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) that what our employees and our customers need is long-term certainty in the postal system. Therefore, we are fully prepared to negotiate intensively for the next 30 days under an extended “cooling off period” to reach negotiated settlements. However, if the parties are unable to successfully conclude negotiations within that period, both parties must agree to binding arbitration.

Canada Post and the union have been in discussions since late 2015, with 60 days of conciliation and almost 30 more days with federal mediators, yet the parties remain far apart on key issues. The impasse has caused tremendous uncertainty, which is having a major impact on the business, our customers and our employees.

Our employees are coming to work to find the amount of mail and parcels they process and deliver has dropped significantly. Parcel volumes from our major e-commerce customers have declined by more than 80 per cent. Yesterday alone, the amount of mail deposited across our network was down more than 80 per cent compared with the same day last year.

A short-term extension, as proposed by the union, with the continued threat of a work disruption will not reverse this severe decline. What Canada Post has put forward is a reasonable approach that will end the uncertainty immediately and allow for meaningful discussions at the bargaining tables.

The Corporation is committed to reaching settlements that are affordable and reasonable.

--30--

Canada Post and the union have been in discussions since late 2015, with 60 days of conciliation and almost 30 more days with federal mediators, yet the parties remain far apart on key issues.

Like I said at the beginning, binding arbitration is the only thing left to do. If I remember correctly, the Union also objected to the appointment of a Conciliator. 

[pierrelebel]

"What Canada Post has put forward is a reasonable approach that will end the uncertainty immediately and allow for meaningful discussions at the bargaining tables.  The Corporation is committed to reaching settlements that are affordable and reasonable."

That appears very similar to what Canada Post stated four years ago and it worked for them at the time with the Harper government forcing a return to work through legislation (it was later proved to be anti-constitutional but that is another story).

Since that approach did work for Canada Post, they are simply doing it again.

Right or wrong - it does not matter.

The management at Canada Post has an history of confrontation with their unions and the unions at Canada Post have an history of confrontation with management.

Two wrongs never make a right.

Would privatization or selling Canada Post to private interests (after this dispute is eventually settled) solve the problem on a permanent basis? The federal government already stated a few months ago that this option is NOT on the table.

[marnotom!]

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@mjwl2006 wrote:

Canada Post agrees to 30-day extension followed by binding arbitration  Posted on July 08, 2016 by Canada Post in News Releases

OTTAWA – Canada Post has informed the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) that what our employees and our customers need is long-term certainty in the postal system. Therefore, we are fully prepared to negotiate intensively for the next 30 days under an extended “cooling off period” to reach negotiated settlements. However, if the parties are unable to successfully conclude negotiations within that period, both parties must agree to binding arbitration.

Canada Post and the union have been in discussions since late 2015, with 60 days of conciliation and almost 30 more days with federal mediators, yet the parties remain far apart on key issues. The impasse has caused tremendous uncertainty, which is having a major impact on the business, our customers and our employees.

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If I'm undoctoring the spin on this correctly, Canada Post is subtly admitting that very little actual negotiating has been going on and they're willing to cave into pressure to get started on it now.  You don't remain "far apart on key issues" if you're seriously negotiating.

The BC government pulled similar stunts when in talks with the BC Teachers' Federation in 2014.  The BCTF tried several times to get the government representatives to the table during summer break but were stonewalled.

[momcqueen]

As I've already mentioned in  another thread, Manitoba teachers abandoned the right to strike in favour of binding arbitration more than 50 years ago. 

[marnotom!]

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@mjwl2006 wrote:

As I've already mentioned in  another thread, Manitoba teachers abandoned the right to strike in favour of binding arbitration more than 50 years ago. 

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The process is probably a bit different than it is with Canada Post and its unions, though.  The arbitrators appointed by the Harper government the last time binding arbitration was attempted were found by the courts to be less than impartial, for example.

[momcqueen]

That was then and this is now. The last time I looked into the goings on in our nation's capital, there was another government in power. 

[marnotom!]

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@mjwl2006 wrote:

That was then and this is now. The last time I looked into the goings on in our nation's capital, there was another government in power. 

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And there was another government yet again in the late 1990s when a two year binding arbitration process ended up going nowhere.

Binding arbitration can be expensive and time-consuming.  I think CUPW believes that time and money would be better spent improving working conditions than on a process that has burned them on at least two other occasions.

[rose-dee]

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@marnotom! wrote:

Binding arbitration can be expensive and time-consuming.  I think CUPW believes that time and money would be better spent improving working conditions than on a process that has burned them on at least two other occasions.

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Yes, and I imagine vast amounts of money were spent on those fruitless processes and the more recent battle in the Ontario courts that ironically could have gone to pay for worker demands.  

It seems to me that rather than intervening as the "heavy", the government could save Canadian taxpayers a lot of money and rescue a whole lot of small businesses from a shutdown if they injected enough cash into CPC to meet the reasonable needs of the unionized employees, i.e. making the labour dispute moot.  

It would be very interesting to consider the wider, longer-term economic benefits of such a policy. That is, of course, as long as the government prevented the upper echelons of management from siphoning the money off for themselves. 

[pierrelebel]

From Canada Post 2015 Financial Report

"Size and volatility of pension and other post-employment benefits

The solvency deficit to be funded for the Canada Post Corporation Registered Pension Plan is estimated at $6.2 billion (using

the three-year average solvency ratio basis) as at December 31, 2015. Significant obligations of the RPP and other post-

employment benefits continued to be a concern for the Corporation. The large size and volatility of these obligations

compared to our cash position and profit put substantial pressure on cash flows and our ability to fund needed investments in

modernization and growth. Volatility from one year to the next is caused by fluctuations in discount rates, investment returns

and other actuarial assumptions, resulting in sizeable financial and long-term liquidity risksto the Corporation. During 2015,

this volatility had a positive effect on the Group of Companies’ defined benefit plans, leading to remeasurement gains of $794

million, net of tax, recorded in other comprehensive income (loss) and improving the Group of Companies’ equity balance to

negative $1.1 billion as at December 31,2015. These remeasurement gains were mostly the result of gains on investments and

an increase in discount rates in 2015. However, without pension funding relief permitted by legislation, Canada Post would

have been required to make special contributionsto the RPP of approximately $1.4 billion in 2015."

For more information on the subject (it is rather complicated)

https://www.canadapost.ca/assets/pdf/aboutus/financialreports/2015_ar_complete_en.pdf

[tobyshitzu]

"

if they injected enough cash into CPC to meet the reasonable needs of the unionized employees, i.e. making the labour dispute moot.  

 "

What would you propose the government take money from in order to give the already well paid CUPW workers even more?  healthcare? infrastructure?  aboriginals? 

[tobyshitzu]

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@marnotom! wrote:

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@mjwl2006 wrote:

Canada Post agrees to 30-day extension followed by binding arbitration  Posted on July 08, 2016 by Canada Post in News Releases

OTTAWA – Canada Post has informed the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) that what our employees and our customers need is long-term certainty in the postal system. Therefore, we are fully prepared to negotiate intensively for the next 30 days under an extended “cooling off period” to reach negotiated settlements. However, if the parties are unable to successfully conclude negotiations within that period, both parties must agree to binding arbitration.

Canada Post and the union have been in discussions since late 2015, with 60 days of conciliation and almost 30 more days with federal mediators, yet the parties remain far apart on key issues. The impasse has caused tremendous uncertainty, which is having a major impact on the business, our customers and our employees.

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If I'm undoctoring the spin on this correctly, Canada Post is subtly admitting that very little actual negotiating has been going on and they're willing to cave into pressure to get started on it now.  You don't remain "far apart on key issues" if you're seriously negotiating.

The BC government pulled similar stunts when in talks with the BC Teachers' Federation in 2014.  The BCTF tried several times to get the government representatives to the table during summer break but were stonewalled.

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Pretty hard to negotiate when the union is demanding more then your entire "profit", you only have q profit becuase the government is termporarily allowing them not to make $1+ billion annual pension liability payment, your business is on decline,   you've already been increasing prices far beyond inflation, and the union managed to get the government to at least postpone rolling out the only thing that will save significant money  

[rose-dee]

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@toby**bleep**zu wrote:

"

if they injected enough cash into CPC to meet the reasonable needs of the unionized employees, i.e. making the labour dispute moot. "

What would you propose the government take money from in order to give the already well paid CUPW workers even more?  healthcare? infrastructure?  aboriginals? 

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I really don't know how much control the federal government has over what is spent at CPC, but for starters maybe utilize the funds earmarked for legal costs and arbitration over, say, the next 10 years, assuming that by maintaining the unionized workers' status quo lockouts, strikes and other service disruptions could be avoided.  

How much money is lost by many thousands of small businesses (and how many go under) every time the postal system shuts down?  How much money is lost by CPC itself?  Those factors too, represent losses to the federal government, both through reduced tax revenue and reduced GNP, and in the longer term could perhaps balance the fiscal inputs by government. 

I'm musing about the bigger picture.  What else do we have if Canada Post completely breaks down?  This is a big country, with vast spaces to deal with.  Is a subsidized national postal system with an invested, professional workforce no longer possible?  Surely a service that reaches all Canadians, wherever they are, is worth preserving?

[momcqueen]

Snipe. (As per Mr. Elmwood.)