March 14, 2012 – 16:15
Urban Postal Unit Negotiations (2011) / Bulletin
Negotiations Bulletin no. 94
The federal government has appointed Guy Dufort as the new arbitrator in the Final Offer Selection (FOS) arbitration that will establish a new collective agreement between urban CUPW members and Canada Post Corporation (CPC). Chronology Of Arbitration To Date-
In July, Justice Osborne was appointed to arbitrate the contract between CUPW and CPC following the back-to-work legislation which ended the postal lock‑out in June 2011.
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The union challenged Osborne’s appointment because he did not have experience in labour law and was not bilingual. CUPW also challenged the constitutionality of the provision in the back-to-work legislation which stated that no proceeding may be taken in a court to question the appointment of the arbitrator or review any proceeding or decision of the arbitrator.
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On October 20, 2011 a Federal Court of Canada judge ordered Justice Osborne to suspend the interest arbitration proceedings until the Federal Court had rendered its final decision on CUPW’s application for judicial review of the government’s appointment of Osborne. On January 27, 2012, the judge overturned the Minister of Labour’s appointment of Justice Osborne. He ruled that any of the proceedings or decisions that had transpired under arbitrator Osborne should be quashed on the grounds that the Minister of Labour had unreasonably exercised her discretionary power by ignoring the two essential qualifications required of the arbitrator. He agreed with the union that any appointed arbitrator would have to be bilingual and have a degree of recognized expertise in labour relations.
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Justice Osborne resigned prior to the Federal Court decision. CUPW urged the government to appoint an experienced and bilingual mediator to work with the parties to negotiate a collective agreement, instead of replacing the arbitrator. This did not happen.
FOS Arbitration Process Is Flawed
FOS is a system where union and management have one opportunity to submit an offer to an arbitrator who chooses one side’s offer. The problem with FOS is that it creates a “winner” and a “loser” and reinforces tensions between employers and employees. As well, FOS is not generally considered to be the best way to resolve the kind of complex issues that arise during collective bargaining. CUPW still believes that negotiations are the best way to find workable solutions that meet the needs of members, the public and Canada Post.
