CUPW calls on members to vote against Canada Post’s offers in forced ballot

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) is calling on its members to vote no in an upcoming forced ballot on Canada Post’s latest offers.

At the end of May, Canada Post asked the federal government to intervene and force a vote among the CUPW-represented employees on its latest offers.

That request was approved on Thursday as Patty Hajdu, minister of jobs and families, announced on social media that a vote will be conducted by the Canada Industrial Relations Board as soon as possible.

“After 18 months of negotiation, over 200 meetings between the parties, 33 days of strike and lockout in the fall and ongoing strain placed on Canada’s small businesses and communities, it is in the public interest that the membership of CUPW has the opportunity to vote on Canada post’s last offers,” wrote Hajdu.

Canada Post announced its approval of the minister’s announcement on Thursday, stating that it comes at a critical point in the corporation’s history.

While the Crown corporation was pleased with Thursday’s news, the union was not, stating that the decision was “yet another assault on our collective bargaining rights, just the latest we have faced in a matter of just months.”

“In December, former Minister of Labour, Steven MacKinnon, used section 107 to put our legal strike on “pause,” and section 108 to strike an Industrial Inquiry Commission (IIC),” stated CUPW.

“These repeated government attacks have poisoned the bargaining process. The government's actions have not helped to bring this impasse closer to a resolution. They have only pushed us further down the road.”

CUPW added in its statement that union-represented employees should stand together and vote against Canada Post’s offers.

“We will not stand by as the government and Canada Post work together to try to undermine our hard-fought rights, gut our collective agreements and rewrite them on their own terms,” wrote CUPW.

“Postal workers know how to fight back. We’ve done it before, and we’re ready to do it again.”

The union’s national overtime ban remains in effect.