Union says Canada Post offers 'fall short' as strike deadline nears

The union representing about 55,000 Canada Post employees said the latest offers from the postal service "fall short" with hours to go until a looming strike deadline.

Canada Post meanwhile said Thursday it's already seeing mail volumes decline ahead of another possible labour disruption and is pushing for an urgent resolution.

Spokesperson Lisa Liu said Canada Post hasn't yet received a response from the union about its proposals issued a day earlier.

The postal service is ready to resume bargaining "as soon as possible" with a mediator at the table, she said.

"We remain hopeful that negotiations can resume," Liu said. "Further delays or another strike would have a major impact on employees, small businesses and the millions of Canadians who rely on the postal system."

In a bulletin posted late Wednesday, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers said it is still reviewing proposals tabled by the Crown corporation earlier in the day.

But it identified a number of areas where the offers disappoint, namely on wages and cost-of-living adjustments.

Canada Post's offers amount to a little more than 13 per cent in wage increases over four years, where the union was looking for closer to 19 per cent to catch up after years of rampant inflation.

The union also raised concerns about Canada Post's pitch to include more part-time staff and introduce "dynamic routing" — a model that could see mail delivery routes change on a daily basis to adjust to varying conditions — without established rules governing the system.

CUPW also argued that the six extra personal days on offer are "window dressing" and already allotted in the Canada Labour Code.

The union also took issue with a pitch to remove workers' "five-minute wash-up time."

Without an agreement in place by the end of Thursday, CUPW members are set to go on strike shortly after midnight.

Canada Post rejected CUPW's call for a two-week "truce" that would have given the union time to review the new offers in detail.

If postal workers do walk off the job, it would be the second time in less than six months.

Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick