Just three days before Canada Post’s workers union will vote on the latest contract offer, the union president is urging members to reject the proposal.
Jan Simpson, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers’ president, in a letter posted Thursday told members “we will not accept collective agreements that silence workers.”
“I know you are anxious about your future and frustrated about what feels like a never-ending round of bargaining, but now is not the time to give up and give in,” Simpson wrote. “We cannot back down.”
She went on to say a no vote would reject “these bad offers,” but it would also protect the integrity of the bargaining process.
The Crown corporation said earlier this week that it had set dates for the vote, beginning July 21 at 7 a.m. eastern daylight time and closing Aug. 1 at 5 p.m.
CUPW, which represents more than 53,000 members, will be voting to ratify the deal tabled by Canada Post, which includes a wage increase, a signing bonus, maintaining a defined benefit pension and job security clauses, among other details.
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The corporation said on Wednesday that both it and the union were provided a notice of vote by the Canada Industrial Relations Board, which will also lead the vote.
The vote comes after Minister of Jobs and Families Patty Hajdu asked the board in June to put the Crown corporation’s latest offer to a vote.
Simpson, in her letter, criticized the process, saying it’s been “plagued by chaos, confusion, and uncertainty” and that some members have informed the union they could not register their emails.
“The Union is seriously questioning the ability of the Board to conduct a legitimate vote,” Simpson wrote, saying the union is demanding that Hajdu and the CIRB explain measures being taken to ensure all eligible members can vote.
Canada Post and the CUPW have been engaged in a more than 18-month-long period of negotiations and subsequent strike activity, which the Crown corporation says has increased the company’s financial losses at a rate of $10 million per day in June.
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