Justice Lost in the Mail…

Over one year ago, Canada Post and its largest union, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW), were involved in a disruptive labour dispute that put employees out of work, disrupted the flow of mail and lost Canada Post money (brief background here). In an effort to stop the bleeding, the Conservative Government passed back-to-work legislation that provided for set wage increases and mandatory interest arbitration to impose a new collective agreement – with an arbitrator appointed by the Federal Government (unless the parties settled). Some months later, the Government appointed Colter Osborne, a well-respected former Ontario judge to handle the arbitration.

CUPW disputed the constitutionality of the back-to-work legislation and, in separate litigation, Justice Osborne’s appointment on the basis that he wasn’t bilingual (despite that the parties often use unilingual arbitrators). In an effort to get the parties to move forward and not be mired in litigation, Justice Osborne resigned to allow the Government to appoint another arbitrator. Several months after that, Guy Dufort was appoint arbitrator to carry on with arbitration. Mr. Dufort’s name was picked from a list provided by CUPW. Shortly thereafter, CUPW challenged his appointment in Federal Court on the basis that he was biased given his Conservative Party ties and because he had worked on behalf of Canada Post in the past. Much of the information that CUPW used to fight his appointment was publicly available. Yesterday, the Federal Court sided with CUPW and quashed Mr. Dufort’s appointment.

While the mail flows, Canada Post is still losing money and it’s been over a year since the back-to-work legislation was passed. There is no doubt that justice for both parties has been delayed. As “they” say, justice delayed is justice denied. At this rate, by the time a collective agreement is imposed by an arbitrator, it may be time to negotiate a new one. Both parties are mired in uncertainty, losing money to legal fees and around 50,000 Canada Post employees are without a proper contract. Who is at fault? Should the Government be acting more quickly? Should the parties still try to settle? What do you think?