Canada Post is facing an “existential crisis” and needs immediate changes to improve its fiscal situation.
That is one of the findings of the Industrial Inquiry Commission report on the labour dispute at the Crown corporation.
It suggests several fixes, such as phasing out daily door-to-door mail delivery for individual addresses but keeping daily delivery for businesses.
The report also recommends lifting the moratoriums on rural post office closures and community mailbox conversions.
In addition, it says Canada Post should be able to hire part-time workers for weekend parcel delivery and to help with volume during the week.
Canada Post ‘effectively insolvent’
“Canada Post is facing an existential crisis: It is effectively insolvent, or bankrupt. Without thoughtful, measured, staged, but immediate changes, its fiscal situation will continue to deteriorate,” Commissioner William Kaplan wrote in the report.
Kaplan said the Crown corporation is no longer able to operate in a financially sustainable manner as its traditional core business has changed — fewer letters must now be delivered to more addresses.
While conventional parcel delivery has expanded exponentially, especially since the onset of the pandemic, Kaplan noted that private sector companies have almost completely taken over the market.
Disagreement on where to go
The commissioner said that while both Canada Post and CUPW, the union representing letter carriers, agree that the market has fundamentally changed, they disagree on what should be done to help the corporation.
“Canada Post insists that a process leading to transformative change must begin. Business as usual cannot continue if it is to adjust to the new business reality. CUPW, in contrast, is intent on defending gains made over decades of collective bargaining, which is completely understandable,” wrote Kaplan.
“Between these opposites, a common ground must be found – one that recognizes that both parties have legitimate interests.”
Kaplan said preserving Canada Post will require “significant capital expenditures” and the federal government needs to decide how much of a subsidy it is prepared to hand over each year. It will also require “hard conversations” about what Canadians want and what Canada can afford, he added.
The release of the report comes just days before a back-to-work order implemented by the federal government expires on May 22, which could mean another strike or a lockout.
The commissioner wants to see the two sides reach an agreement rather than have one imposed by a third party through interest arbitration.
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