Canada Post and representatives from its union squared off on Monday at a federal inquiry into the month-long strike that halted mail delivery across the country and the viability of the postal service’s business model.
The Industrial Inquiry Commission heard from Canada Post CEO Doug Ettinger, who emphasized the Crown corporation’s challenging financial reality and its “need for change right now” if it wants to remain solvent.
Meanwhile, chief financial officer Rindala El-Hage outlined how the corporation’s losses are expected to increase and that Canada Post was set to run out of cash by the end of July – a projection that didn’t include the effects of the national postal strike.
El-Hage was pressed by the commission for details on how Canada Post had been planning to deal with the looming cash crunch.
On Friday, the federal government announced it will provide a $1-billion repayable loan to Canada Post to help it continue operating.
While the funding buys the corporation some time, Ettinger said it’s “not a long-term fix.”
However, Jan Simpson, the president of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, said the corporation is misrepresenting its financial picture.
“In this round of bargaining alone, Canada Post’s answers to our financial questions raise serious concerns about the transparency of its financial reporting,” she said.
“The union has also valid concerns that Canada Post, in reporting its financial losses, has failed to acknowledge some of the key contributing factors including mismanagement.”
More than 55,000 workers went on strike Nov. 15 after negotiations broke down between Canada Post and the union.
In December, federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon directed the Canada Industrial Relations Board to order the employees back to work if it determined a deal wouldn’t be possible before the end of the year.
He also appointed the industrial inquiry commission to look at the structural and business issues facing Canada Post, and to make recommendations on how a new deal could be reached with the union.
One of the biggest issues in the dispute between Canada Post and the union was a push by Canada Post to expand delivery to the weekend as a way to compete with other carriers and boost revenues for the struggling corporation.
The two sides disagreed over how to staff the expansion, with the union accusing Canada Post of trying to undermine full-time work.
The union argued at the hearing that the corporation already has the ability to deliver mail on the weekends using its full-time workforce, rather than hiring additional part-timers.
— By Michelle Zadikian and Rosa Saba in Toronto
