Daily door-to-door letter mail delivery for individual addresses should be phased out, according to recommendations made in a report by an industrial inquiry commission that says Canada Post is “effectively insolvent” as it continues to face financial issues.
Commissioner William Kaplan laid out seven recommendations as part of his report into the ongoing dispute, which could lead to a strike or lockout as of May 22.
“My recommendations are based on my conclusion that there is a way to preserve Canada Post as a vital national institution,” Kaplan wrote.
Kaplan said that the Crown corporations charter should be amended, saying it “cannot continue to require impossible-to-meet delivery standards,” but added while individual address delivery should be phased out, businesses should still receive deliveries daily.
He also said community mailboxes should be established “wherever practicable.”
This suggestion, however, comes despite Kaplan saying in his report that the promise to deliver to every Canadian address is “worth preserving.”
In his report, Kaplan laid out the issues facing Canada Post, stating that it was “facing an existential crisis: It is effectively insolvent, or bankrupt.”
He went on to say that if the corporation is to continue operating without ongoing subsidies from the government, “the situation calls for hard-headed, practical thinking.”
He also recommended government-imposed moratoriums on rural post office closures and that community mailbox conversions should be lifted.
“There is no persuasive case for a moratorium on closure of once rural, now urban, post offices,” Kaplan writes, adding the corporation has a “delivery accommodation program” in place for those who can’t access a community mailbox.
Kaplan was tasked with looking over the dispute after the federal government intervened when the labour disruption between Canada Post and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) had passed 30 days.
The government had asked the Canada Industrial Relations Board to order workers back on the job if it agreed with then-labour minister Steven MacKinnon’s determination there was an “impasse” in negotiations.
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MacKinnon had also said that an industrial inquiry commission would review the structural issues of the dispute and issue a report on May 15, which “will serve as a solid basis for both parties to negotiate their collective agreements.”
At issue between the union and Crown corporation are key demands around worker pay, the use of temporary workers, weekend delivery, benefits and pensions and how Canada Post could meet a “critical financial situation” that experts have said could go “the route of Blockbuster.”
In addition to daily delivery and rural post office recommendations, Kaplan said changes must be made to collective agreements to allow the Crown corporation to have the “flexibility” to hire part-time employees to deliver parcels on weekends and to assist with volume during the week.
He wrote the corporation should also be able to change daily routes to reflect volumes to avoid “trapped time and overtime.”
Canada Post CEO Doug Ettinger, in an email to Global News, said that the report provides the corporation, CUPW, employees and all Canadians with a “frank and straightforward assessment of the challenges we face.”
“It comes at a critical time as our efforts to respond to the changing delivery needs of the country have taken on greater urgency as Canada works to strengthen its economy in response to U.S. threats.”
Ettinger added they welcome the report’s recommendations and would work with bargaining agents and the federal government to address the challenges, adding the report “lays the foundation for establishing a modern postal service built to serve the evolving needs of the country.”
Global News reached out to CUPW for comment on the report but did not hear back by publication.
However, the union in a news release put out on Thursday said it had received the report and was reviewing the details and would provide an update as soon as it can.
It added it had arranged a meeting with Jobs and Families Minister Patty Hajdu for Friday, also to be attended by Secretary of State for Labour John Zerucelli.
The union also called on Canada Post to return to the bargaining table after the corporation called for a “temporary pause” earlier this week so it could focus on “preparing comprehensive proposals.”
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