CUPW members to begin voting on Canada Post’s final offers next week

A date has finally been announced for the government-imposed Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) vote on Canada Post’s final offers.

The Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) announced on Wednesday that the vote would begin on Monday, July 21, and run until 5 pm EDT on Friday, Aug. 1.

At the end of May, Canada Post asked the federal government to force a vote among the more than 53,000 CUPW-represented employees on its final offers.

“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 MP Patty Hajdu, minister of jobs and families, back in June.

The union has since called on its members to vote against the offers in the upcoming ballot.

“Canada Post’s offers fall far short of what postal workers have earned and deserve. They ignore the realities we face on the workfloor, fail to address our key demands and attempt to strip away hard-won protections,” wrote CUPW on Wednesday.

“What’s more, Canada Post and the government are setting a dangerous precedent. From the very beginning, management has shown little interest in reaching fair, negotiated agreements. Instead, the employer is using this government-backed vote to try and impose its terms, sidestepping the bargaining process and rewriting our collective agreements without our input.”

The CIRB will administer the vote and employees will mark their ballot privately either by phone or online.

Voting will be open to all employees in the Urban and RSMC (Rural and Suburban Mail Carriers) bargaining units. The units will be voting on their respective offers, which were received at the end of May.

According to CUPW, the process of preparing for the vote has been “chaotic and deeply flawed.”

“Across the country, members reported issues with simply updating their email address to receive the vote notice and their PIN,” the union explained.

“These aren’t isolated issues and they point to a rushed process.”

The vote begins at 7 am EDT on Monday.