Canada : Pay equity fight at Canada Post heads to review process
As part of the settlement, the two sides have agreed to a pay equity review process, with an arbitrator, with a final ruling expected within 19 months. The review has already
Canada Post has consistently argued there isn’t any pay equity issue because the jobs are structured differently – and so they shouldn’t be compared that way.
“We have some concerns about the argument that the union was putting forward,” said Canada Post spokesman Jon Hamilton, adding the company compensates its employees fairly, through provisions negotiated in collective agreements.
“These issues are complex. There are two different viewpoints,” he said. “It’s helpful to take the time to study and bring in experts and an objective third party.
“We will fully participate and ensure it is a fulsome process. We’ll see where it ends,” Hamilton added.
The union believes it will win.
“From our perspective, it’s a cut and dry case of pay inequity, by equal wage guidelines and Canadian law,” said Mike Palecek, CUPW’s national president. “The question has been about enforcement.”
McMillan’s group also includes suburban carriers, who deliver to community mailboxes, with many rural and suburban carriers working next to urban carriers in the same post office, in big cities like Ottawa and Brampton, with the only difference being the colour of their shirts.
“Canada Post, they see us as their competitive advantage, so they want it to continue,” she said, saying she earns $19.44 an hour, while her urban counterpart would get $25.95 an hour.
The union made pay equity – given that the 8,000 members in the rural and suburban unit are predominantly women, at 70 per cent, compared to the 42,000 members in the urban unit, who are 68 per cent men, a key issue in this year’s contract talks.
It wants to bring up the wages of those in the rural and suburban units – or merge all the carriers into a single unit – arguing it’s more effective to bring change at the bargaining table. It doesn’t want to fight court battles that can drag on for decades.
In fact, a pay equity complaint on behalf of clerical workers at Canada Post stretched out for nearly 30 years – as lawyers made their arguments and appeals before the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal, Federal Court and Federal Court of Appeal.
The case finally ended in 2011, when the Supreme Court of Canada issued a rare unanimous ruling, just 20 minutes after hearing the case, ordering the crown corporation to pay up.
Canada Post believes virtually anyone who is owed a payment in that case has been paid – almost 16,000 individuals, though it is not saying how much was paid out. Estimates have pegged it at as much as $250 million, once interest was factored in.
A similar battle is going on with another small union – the Canadian Postmaster and Assistants Association, which represents Canada Post staff in rural post offices across the country.
That group filed a pay equity complaint with the Canadian Human Rights Commission more than 20 years ago, and the case has been repeatedly delayed for various reasons – but was reactivated years later.
The commission then ordered the case to a tribunal hearing, though Canada Post recently went to Federal Court to block the hearing, arguing procedural unfairness.
Federal Court Justice Patrick Gleeson refused Canada Post’s application, siding with the commission’s decision.
“While I have concluded that the CHRC decision was reasonable, I cannot leave this matter without addressing the serious impact the delay in this case has on the repute on the administration of justice,” Gleeson said in a July 28 decision.
“The system has failed over 6,000 individuals who have been waiting for over 20 years for a determination of a complaint that alleges they have been financially impacted as the result of systemic gender discrimination,” he wrote.
“This case is an unfortunate example of the pay equity complaint process not serving the individual members of the claimant group, the parties, the broader public or the interests of justice,” Gleeson said, imploring the parties and future decision makers to ensure the matter proceeds “as expeditiously as possible.”
Canada Post has declined to appeal the case to the Supreme Court, so it will now proceed to the tribunal though no hearing date has been set.
“We will not let go of this,” said Brenda McAuley, National President of the postmasters’ union. “My bigger concern is that we are going to be sending cheques to estates (because it has dragged on so long).
“Our members want pay equity, and our new prime minister is a self-proclaimed feminist,” she said, referring to Justin Trudeau and his promise to ensure gender parity in his cabinet.
“It can no longer be ignored,” she said, adding new federal pay equity legislation is expected next year.