‘They want to control people’s lives’: Canada Post union negotiator challenges the Crown corporation’s latest offer

CUPW negotiator Jim Gallant on why the union is encouraging worker to reject Canada Post’s latest contract offer.

As unionized workers at Canada Post begin voting on the Crown corporation’s latest offer, one of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers’ (CUPW) negotiators is urging members to vote against it, slamming Canada Post for trying to “control people’s lives.”

Jim Gallant told CTV Your Morning in an interview Monday that despite the 18-month long negotiation, the latest offer is still not up to the mark, emphasizing “the devil is in the details.”

“The wording that they have, and this language, just open a wide door that they could drive a motor home through to get what they want,” he said after reading through all the offer documents.

Roughly 55,000 unionized Canada Post workers began voting on Monday, after the federal Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu asked the Canada Industrial Relations Board to intervene and put the latest offer to a vote.

Meanwhile, Gallant describes the agreement as the opposite of flexible.

“They use the word ‘flexibility’, but this collective agreement is about control,” he said. “They want to control people’s lives, where you go to work for four hours and by the time you’re at work you have to stay for eight hours.”

CUPW, along with the Rural and Suburban Mail Carriers and Urban Bargaining Committees, unanimously recommended that Canada Post’s final offer be rejected, according a news release by the CUPW.

“These offers fall short of what we’ve earned, ignore the realities on the work floor, fail to address key demands, and threaten hard-won protections,” the news release said.

“Worse still, Canada Post—backed by the Government—is setting a dangerous precedent,“ the press release added. ”From the start, management has shown little interest in fair negotiations. Instead, they’re using this forced vote to sidestep bargaining and impose their terms without our consent.”

The Crown corporation’s offer includes a hike in wages of around 13 per cent over four years and adds part-time workers.

Jon Hamilton, a Canada Post spokesperson, said the Crown corporation had operating losses amounting to $10 million a day through June, and in the event the vote is negative, the uncertainty will continue.

According to a survey by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) released on Monday, a postal strike could cause the corporation to permanently lose up to 63 per cent of businesses.

“Small business owners deserve a long-term plan and a postal service they can count on,” Corinne Pohlmann, executive vice-president of advocacy at CFIB said in the survey report.

According to the CFIB, more than 70 per cent of businesses have encouraged customers to use digital methods, 45 per cent have put their faith in private couriers and 27 per cent delayed mail.

“People can’t take care of their children or parents,” Gallant says. “We need things so we have a reasonable day and know about that day before we show up.”

With files from CTV News’ Paul Hollingsworth and the Canadian Press