Earlier this morning, Minister of Jobs and Families Patty Hajdu asked both the Canada Post Corporation and the CUPW to return to the bargaining table with federal mediators. Her expressed goals in doing so were to a) “to seek to negotiate terms for an arbitration process to conclude this round of bargaining,” and b) “to have the Union table its response to Canada Post’s last global offers.”
Minister Hajdu agrees with all of us that “Arbitration is not the preferred path to an agreement,” and acknowledges that “each (side) will have priorities it wants recognized.” She goes further to add that “for that reason, attempts to negotiate a settlement must continue. Canadians expect the parties to resolve this dispute one way or the other. To do that they must meet and pursue these two paths with urgency. Federal mediators are waiting to engage with the parties.”
While arbitration is not an outcome most of us want, it seems to be the only direction open to the two sides at present, barring a fairly negotiated settlement. The only silver linings to an arbitrated settlement are that a) it would finally bring an end to this long, tense round of negotiations and b) would ensure that the change in work method known as Dynamic Routing which has been pushed by the Corporation does not come to pass, as work methods can not be changed via arbitration.
In Solidarity,
Your CUPW Winnipeg Local Executive
