In announcing Mr. Dufort’s appointment, Minister Raitt noted that the arbitration process between Canada Post and CUPW will now start over from the beginning. Minister Raitt also made clear that Mr. Dufort will not be bound by any previous decisions made by Justice Osborne.

A retired labour relations lawyer, Mr. Dufort has worked in a number of economic sectors, including radio and television, the food industry and among aerospace companies. He has argued cases before the Supreme Court of Canada and the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal. Originally from Quebec, Mr. Dufort is fluently bilingual in English and French.

Under the terms of arbitration, Canada Post and CUPW will each present a final offer to Mr. Dufort that includes language with the terms and conditions of a proposed new collective agreement. Mr. Dufort will review both the company and union offers, as well as their supporting arguments, and then select either Canada Post’s or CUPW’s offer in its entirety.

The offer that is chosen will become the new collective agreement. Mr. Dufort’s decision as arbitrator in the case will be final and the new collective agreement will be binding on Canada Post and CUPW. While the arbitration process is ongoing, it will remain business as usual at Canada Post. As per federal government legislation, the terms and conditions of the previous collective agreement are in effect until arbitration is concluded and a new collective agreement comes into force.

The last few months have been difficult for our people, particularly those of you who are affected directly by the current round of negotiations with the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW).

As you know there is an arbitration process now underway that will result in a new collective agreement between the company and the urban bargaining unit represented by CUPW. Our hope and desire is that both parties will work with the arbitrator to conclude the final offer selection process within the prescribed timeline.

We had originally planned to pay the wage increase retroactive to February 1 once the new collective agreement was in place. But after hearing feedback from affected employees and CUPW, we agree that it is in your best interest to pay you retroactively before the agreement is in place.

You will receive your retroactive pay on September 29. The retroactive pay and higher pay rate will appear on your corresponding pay statement.

Thank you for your patience as we continue to work toward the conclusion of this process.

Sincerely,
Deepak Chopra
President and Chief Executive Officer

Canada Post and CUPW will each present a final offer to Justice Osborne that includes language with the terms and conditions of a proposed new collective agreement. Justice Osborne will review both offers and supporting arguments and then select either the corporation or the union’s offer in its entirety.

The offer that is chosen will become the new collective agreement. Justice Osborne’s decision will be final and the new collective agreement will be binding on Canada Post and CUPW. The arbitration process is to last for 90 days but can only be extended by the Minister of Labour.

While the arbitration process is ongoing, it will remain business as usual at Canada Post. As per the legislation, the terms and conditions of the previous collective agreement are in effect until arbitration is concluded and a new collective agreement comes into force.

Justice Osborne has been practicing law since 1959. He previously served on the Supreme Court of Ontario and as Associate Chief Justice of Ontario. Justice Osborne has worked on mediations and arbitrations regarding a number of different matters.

I am pleased to report that, thanks to your hard work, we have now successfully cleared all the mail that accumulated due to the June business disruption.

I would like to thank each of you for the professionalism you showed during the business disruption and the efforts you made to clear the mail backlog following our return to work on June 27. Since resuming operations, Canada Post has processed 560 million pieces of mail. This has been done despite summer vacations and while managing costs.

None of this would have been accomplished if it hadn’t been for the extraordinary work performed by employees on the frontlines. I know that the past few months have not been easy and that the business disruption was difficult on each of you and your families. The business disruption caused a great deal of uncertainty for everyone at Canada Post. That you have been able to rise above these difficulties and resolve our operational challenges is a credit to your character and work ethic.

Now that we are returning to a more normal pace of operations and our service guarantees will be back in force, it is important to ensure that we maintain quality and provide excellent customer service. Returning customers should be rewarded for their loyalty with outstanding service. Scanning, meeting cut-offs, honouring our service guarantees and improving delivery standards for all products is important. Service excellence is the best way to keep customers and regain business that was lost during the recent disruption.

In closing, I would like to thank you again for your professionalism and hard work. The incredible effort each of you made to get us back on track is greatly appreciated. Despite the ongoing challenges, we know that the postal system remains an important service to Canadians. Our customers missed us when we were not operating. Let’s continue to work hard and earn the loyalty of all our customers—individuals and businesses.

Sincerely,

Jacques Côté
Chief Operating Officer

• Extended Healthcare Plan
• Dental
• Vision/Hearing
• Disability Insurance
• Life Insurance

This covers the period starting when CUPW filed its 72-hour notice to strike and ending when back to work legislation came into effect. During this period, the terms and conditions of the Canada Labour Code – Part Three applied in place of the collective agreement as noted in the company’s May 18 letter to CUPW-UPO members. Because the union did not opt to pay for the benefits, they were suspended.

Because the collective agreement was not in force, employees will not have to pay their portion of the benefit premiums for the May 30 to June 27 period. Canada Post has opted to pay the full cost of these benefits for that period.

You can get more details on how to claim benefits during the labour disruption period on the AccessHR website, which you can access through Intrapost from your home. Information is also available on the website for employees who have already made a claim under the temporary drug plan that was in effect from June 10 to June 27.

Sick leave

Canada Post is also gratuitously providing sick-leave pay for the period of June 3 to 14 except for any period where an employee’s work location was on strike. Employees who obtained medical certification at that time to validate their absence and had sick credits available will receive these sick leave payments.

Note: CUPW-UPO-represented employees did not accumulate sick leave credits during the labour disruption (May 30 to June 27, 2011). Employees began to accumulate sick leave credits again starting at the beginning of Shift #3 on June 27.

While there is no legal requirement to do so, Canada Post has decided to provide these health benefits and sick leave payments as described above to assist our employees with financial support related to health issues.

I know many of you have been following closely the situation on Parliament Hill over the past several days. As you have probably heard, back-to-work legislation received Royal Assent this evening. As a result, Canada Post will begin the process of resuming operations tomorrow, on Monday June 27.

Our customers—all Canadians—are depending on us to get back to normal as soon as possible. No doubt we have some busy days ahead.

I know you are wondering when you need to report back for work. I’ll provide those details to you below.

But first, I’m glad to have each and every one of you back. I understand this has been a very difficult and stressful time for you and your families. This can take a toll on anyone. You can talk to your team leader or call our Employee Assistance Program for counselling any time of the day or week at 1-866-565-4903. You can also visit the AccessHR website through Intrapost or email AccessHR if you have any question about your pay or benefits. Given the expected call volumes this will reduce your waiting time and ensure your question is received and prioritized for response.

Our return to work and what it means for you

Canada Post will begin to progressively re-instate service tomorrow, on Monday June 27. However, in order to ensure an orderly start-up, we will resume our operations in stages, starting with mail processing and transportation, followed by retail and collection and delivery.

This means that some employees will start to return to work on Monday afternoon, while others will only begin their first shifts back on the following day, Tuesday June 28.

The following is a summary of the specifics related to your areas in the coming days and when you are expected to return to work. I urge you to read it carefully. If you have any further questions, please follow up with your team leader. Staffing plans for the upcoming July 1 statutory holiday will be communicated to your team leaders this week.

Mail Processing

• All indeterminate employees are to return to work for their regularly scheduled shifts beginning with afternoon Shift #3 on Monday June 27.
• In order to ensure all mail presently in the system is processed and delivered first, all mail in the system prior to start-up is being coded Orange. This mail will receive top priority. All other mail arriving starting as of Monday afternoon (Shift 3) will be flashed with normal SIS procedures.

Retail

• Employees in retail operations are to return to work at the beginning of their scheduled shifts on Tuesday June 28 in order to resume regular business operations that day..

Collection and Delivery – Urban Operations

• Delivery will resume on Tuesday June 28, with all employees returning to work on that day. Final sort employees are to return to work Monday night for Tuesday (June 28) shift.
• Mail Service Couriers normally scheduled for Shift 3 will be required to work on the evening of Monday June 27.
• Unsealing of street letter boxes will start on Monday June 27. Only boxes that have been unsealed and are full should be cleared. If this is the case, the boxes should be emptied and the mail delivered to the usual induction facility. Regular clearances will resume on Tuesday June 28.

Collection and Delivery – RSMCs

• Delivery by RSMCs will resume on Monday June 27. RSMCs are to continue to report for their normal shifts.
• RSMCs will unseal community mailboxes and street letter boxes on their routes starting on Monday June 27. All mail in the CMBs should be cleared on Monday as per the normal process.

Commercial Customers

• Mail pickup will resume on Tuesday June 28 in urban areas from commercial customers.

I know everyone is anxious to continue serving Canadians. Let’s begin the work!

Sincerely,

Jacques Côté

Chief Operating Officer

We know you’re disappointed—as we are—that contract talks between Canada Post and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers broke off on June 22. With so much at stake, you deserve to know why.

For the first time this week, we finally saw some movement by the union to address the challenges faced by the company. This happened only after the Minister of Labour tabled back-to-work legislation and after hundreds of millions of dollars in losses had been inflicted on us. Despite the growing revenue loss, we made yet additional concessions in an attempt to reach a deal.

Had we seen the same amount of movement before the beginning of strikes, we would have been in a much better position to reach a deal. However, after incurring hundreds of millions of dollars in losses, we are even in a worse position to pay for all of the demands.

In the 12 days of rotating strikes, we would like to think that we showed great patience—despite the harm to the business. We made a revised offer on June 9, six days into rotating strikes. We did not get a serious response until the night of June 21, a full 12 days after we made the offer, and after the Minister tabled the legislation.

We hope this gives you some sense of what we were facing.

Canada Post started negotiations believing we could secure a deal by offering wage increases and protecting pensions and job security for all current regular employees.

We also proposed a pension solution for new employees that preserves the security and benefits of the pension you currently enjoy but recognizes that people live now much longer. With job security, every 20-year-old employee we hire in 2011 will have guaranteed employment until 2051 and can expect to collect pension on average until 2071. That’s decades of promises to keep—and to fund. Meantime, as Lettermail declines, we have to keep prices affordable so we can compete against the Internet and global couriers many times our size.

So we proposed meaningful changes for new hires that still offer them wages and benefits that are better than other logistic and delivery companies.

We deeply regret that talks broke down. It pains us and worries us that customers and employees are hurting. We did everything we could to avoid this, short of taking on an expensive long-term cost burden that is simply unrealistic and unsustainable.

We know everyone is anxious to start work and start serving Canadians.

Deepak Chopra
President and CEO

Jacques Côté
Chief Operating Officer