The employer has to obey the law," he said. Mazerolle points out that if it really is a pay equity issue, then it's not a negotiating issue, it's a legal one. The other negotiation issue has been pay equity between rural and urban carriers, especially because the majority of rural carriers are women. "I also think the consistent profitability of the postal service year after year makes the employer's affordability argument very weak," Ross said. She also questions Canada Post's argument about pension costs. "I also think that the union has been very successful at framing this round of bargaining as about intergenerational equity - younger workers should have secure pensions, too."
"Only a very aggressive strategy on Canada Post's part will likely move the union off the principle of an equal pension for all union members," she said. Ross isn't so confident that CUPW will change its stance on pensions. "There's a precedent here," Mazerolle said, adding CUPW may have a hard time arguing that its members are different than those represented by other unions. "It's becoming increasingly difficult to keep these defined benefits plans, despite the company still making money."Ī bigger factor, Mazerolle said, is that Canada Post has already settled contracts with two other unions that change the terms of pension plans. Mazerolle said they may have been able to come to an agreement on the pension issue, with CUPW having to change its demand. The union wants to maintain the defined benefits. One of the biggest issues between Canada Post and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) has been pensions.Ĭanada Post wants to change the pension scheme for new hires, moving them to a defined contribution plan instead of a defined benefit plan. "After all, how can you say you want to maintain a service that you yourself are willing to disrupt with a lockout?"Įven if negotiations fail, either side is still required to give 72-hours' notice of a work stoppage. "I think that Canada Post must realize that their strategy of using a lockout was not playing well with the public," Ross said in an email to CBC News. Stephanie Ross, an associate professor at McMaster University's school of labour studies also thinks the ongoing conversation is a good sign. "There may be the makings of a resolution." "It sounds like they're narrowing the issues," Mazerolle said. Maurice Mazerolle, director of the centre for labour management relations and associate professor at the Ted Rogers School of Management, said he's "reasonably confident" that mail service will continue in the short term. If you were worried about sending your mom a birthday card or ordering something online because of a looming labour disruption at Canada Post, you should be OK for now, labour relations experts say.
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