Canada Post once set the standard for secure, middle-class work. Now, as government moves to gut it, postal workers are fighting against a future of gigified delivery jobs, vanishing benefits, and race-to-the-bottom wages.
oposed settlement that would impose massive job losses and decimate service capacity.
Fighting the Gigified Race to the Bottom
Without question, the union is now in a pitched battle to keep Canada Post a viable crown corporation. But focusing too narrowly on the twists and turns of the negotiations can obscure the broader political economy shaping this fight.
Beyond poor investment decisions, Canada Post is increasingly being [squeezed](https://www.theglobeandmail.com/busin…
Canada Post once set the standard for secure, middle-class work. Now, as government moves to gut it, postal workers are fighting against a future of gigified delivery jobs, vanishing benefits, and race-to-the-bottom wages.
oposed settlement that would impose massive job losses and decimate service capacity.
Fighting the Gigified Race to the Bottom
Without question, the union is now in a pitched battle to keep Canada Post a viable crown corporation. But focusing too narrowly on the twists and turns of the negotiations can obscure the broader political economy shaping this fight.
Beyond poor investment decisions, Canada Post is increasingly being squeezed by a gigified delivery sector dependent on the hyperexploitation of workers. The parcel delivery business in Canada is now dominated by low-cost firms that engage workers through subcontracting and other forms of precarious employment. In the face of this unfair competition, Canada Post’s share of the parcel delivery market has cratered.
Many private delivery firms classify their workers as “independent contractors,” paying them by the delivery rather than by the hour and evading regulations governing overtime pay, rest periods, and maximum daily and or weekly hours.
Even where drivers are classified as “employees,” subcontracting employment structures make it extremely difficult to unionize. Amazon’s “delivery service partner” model is but one example.
These employment models allow private delivery firms to compete with Canada Post largely on the basis of low labor costs sustained by denying workers access to benefits and basic protections. Federal and provincial governments across Canada have not only refused to properly regulate gig work but have encouraged its spread. Tellingly, Intelcom — one of Canada’s largest delivery subcontractors for Amazon — is headed by the brother of current Liberal minister of innovation, science and industry, Mélanie Joly.
Unions like CUPW now find themselves on the back foot, struggling to shield their members from the worst consequences of an eroded labor market.
In the immediate term, the rallying cry must be to keep Canada Post public and defend the jobs and working conditions of CUPW members. But unless the labor movement addresses the growth of the gig economy in the long term, similar struggles will play out everywhere union members still retain decent working conditions.
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