Canada Post, union say still no date for offer vote: ‘Chaos and confusion’

It has been more than three weeks since the federal jobs minister ordered a vote by Canada Post workers on the “final” contract offer by the Crown corporation, but there is still no set date for that to happen.
The question of when that vote may occur is in the hands of the Canada Industrial Relations Board, according to both Canada Post and the union, the latter of which described a process of “chaos and confusion.”
The negotiations between Canada Post and its unionized postal workers have been ongoing for more than 18 months, which has resulted in various waves of work stoppage and strike action that are still at least partially in place, including a union ban on overtime.
A spokesperson for Canada Post stated, “We have no update to offer” in an email response to Global News on July 4 asking when the vote might take place. The spokesperson stated, “We do not yet have dates to share with you.” Canada Post and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) continue to collaborate with the Canada Industrial Relations Board in preparation for the vote. At the time of the jobs minister’s order for a vote to be held, the Crown corporation had said that the final vote would take place “as soon as possible.” In the statement sent to Global News, Canada Post said that the CIRB “will provide a Notice of Vote to both parties that will include the voting period — that has not yet been provided.”
A representative of the Canada Industrial Relations Board, which is in charge of the vote, told Mdia in response to a request, “We are currently working diligently with all involved parties to proceed with this complex vote.” However, we are unable to specify a specific time frame for the vote at this time. Meanwhile, CUPW expressed frustration for its members in a separate written statement to Global News.
“While the order called for the votes to happen ‘as soon as possible,’ it has quickly become clear that neither the Government nor the Canada Industrial Relations Board were prepared for the challenge of overseeing a vote of 50,000 workers across the country,” the statement from the CUPW said.