Submitted as a Full Paper
Becoming Employees:
The Case of Canada’s Rural and Suburban Mail Carriers
By
Andrea Noack and Norene Pupo
Abstract
In January 2004, after almost a decade of organizing by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW), Canada's Rural and Suburban Mail Carriers (RSMCs) became full-time employees of the federal government. Prior to this landmark collective agreement, RSMCs worked as independent contractors, each individually negotiating his/her own routes and compensation. To have a group of workers move en masse from the status of 'contractor' to the status of 'employee' is quite unusual in the current economic context, which has seen corporations and the state reduce their number of employees in favour of contracting out. Through mail surveys and in-depth interviews, we investigate how becoming unionized federal employees has affected the everyday working conditions of RSMCs. In particular, we focus on how this change in status has affected the way that people think about their work, their new status as union members, and themselves as workers.
Introduction
Within a climate of economic uncertainty and restructuring, North American workers are challenged by the increasingly difficult task of locating and retaining secure and meaningful employment. Transformations within workplaces in response to global economic pressures, changing labour markets, and the technological reorganizations have heavily impacted workers’ sense of security by blurring the boundaries between core and marginal workers, and between good jobs and bad jobs. Even jobs in the public sector, once thought to provide security for life, are now viewed with a different lens as the state adopts new strategies for labour market development and embraces reorganization within its core services (Evans and Shields, 1998; McBride, 2001). New measures of corporate accountability and new forms of regulation have prompted the state to transform its internal structures and administrative arrangements. In response to pressures to remain competitive within the global economy, this state reorganization has entailed a variety of cost-cutting measures that affect what services are provided and how they are delivered, which has fundamentally transformed the public sector workplace (Teeple, 1995; Albo, 2010).
Despite the challenges to the state presented by recent economic transformations, few researchers are focusing on restructuring and changing work arrangements within the public sector or on public workers’ reactions to these changes. Yet changing working conditions within the public sector—including devaluing or deskilling certain categories of work and eliminating some forms of work altogether—are giving rise to questions regarding job security and as a consequence, the risks and benefits to the general public. This is a study of work and agency amongst rural and suburban mail carriers (RSMCs) and the Canadian Postal Workers Union (CUPW), which has been relentless in its attempt to organize these precarious workers.
Understanding work restructuring within the public sector entails a complex and detailed consideration of the movement of work from the public domain to the realm of private enterprise as well as to the sphere of unpaid work. The state as employer is caught between competing forces: the need to respond to global economic pressures and remain competitive within a market-driven economy and the pressures to adopt new structures to advance equity gains, to uphold collective bargaining legislation, and to improve upon security, opportunity and citizenship rights. Transformations within the public sector have redefined the ways in which public service work is organized and managed. Some of the recent changes within the public sector that have affected working conditions and access to work include privatization and deregulation, contracting out, commercialization, the introduction of new management practices, including the use of technologies, and the process of casualization, including reliance on temporary work agencies (Stinson, 2010). These changes, in turn, affect public service workers' sense of well-being and security, as well as their expectations regarding access to work. The reorganization of public sector work also affect state-sponsored programs and the delivery of social services (Broad and Antony, 2006).
The case of Canada’s rural and suburban mail carriers is unique because it has challenged the trend towards contracting out in the public service (Fudge, 2005), by allowing a group of contracted workers to acquire employee status and collective bargaining rights en masse. By orchestrating this transition, CUPW has confronted the general culture of antagonism toward unions—what has been referred to as “assaults” on trade union freedoms (Panitch and Swartz, 2003). Previously, rural and suburban mail carriers had been deemed "independent contractors" under the Canada Post Act. These workers signed onto contracts to work exclusively for Canada Post and by doing so, they were responsible, as any small business, for their operating expenses, for finding their own replacements for leaves and vacations, and for maintaining their vehicles. Their contracts afforded no benefits and they were not entitled to employment insurance or workers’ compensation (Fudge, 2005: 57). On all fronts, these workers were precariously employed. They worked as own-account members of the self-employed labour force and had very few measures of protection. Contracts were individually negotiated, but in general, paid poorly – especially since the actual hours of work varied widely depending on mail volume and road and weather conditions. As these workers became more disgruntled and compared their own circumstances to those of Canada Post's unionized employees, the lure of “independence” as self-employed contractors weakened. The campaign of those pressing to acquire employee status was fuelled by a growing recognition amongst drivers that they were increasingly burdened by heavy loads of admail, circulars and other materials for which they were not compensated. The rural routers were a cheap pool of labour for Canada Post, a corporation which has increasingly found themselves operating in a highly commercialized and competitive industry, and thus adopted management techniques and processes proven to be lucrative in the commercial sector (ILO, 1998). After years of struggle, however, the Canadian Supreme Court ruled in favour of the rural routers. Rural and suburban mail carriers who had previously operated as independent contractors won regular employment status under Section 13.5 of the Canada Post Act, and hence the right to be organized by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW).
This paper examines these workers’ experience in making the transition from self-employment under exclusive contract to employee status within the Canada Post Corporation. We examine these workers’ experiences of this transition and what they perceive as the advantages and disadvantages of their new status. While we focus on examining the impact of change “on the ground” and at “local” levels, we are mindful of the context of national and global structures within which the Canadian public sector operates.
How the Study was Done
In the summer of 2007, CUPW approached the Centre for Research on Work and Society about researching the experiences of RSMC members. In particular, CUPW was interested in learning more about how RSMCs had experienced the transition to becoming employees and union members. The union was also interested in knowing more about the working conditions and concerns of RSMCs before the next round of bargaining.
In Fall 2007, a mail survey and semi-structured interview guide were developed by the research team, and pre-tested with union members. CUPW staff translated the research materials into French and provided mailing labels for all RSMC members. On January 28, 2008, 6204 RSMCs were mailed a bilingual survey package containing an information letter, a four-page survey, and a postage paid return envelope. Ten days after the initial mailing, a bilingual reminder postcard was sent to all members, thanking them if they had already completed a survey, and reminding them to return their survey if they had not already done so. In total, 2197 RSMC members returned a survey (a 35% response rate). It is not possible to determine how the perceptions and experiences of members who did not return the questionnaire differ from the perceptions and experiences of members who did return the questionnaire. It is likely that those RSMCs who did return the survey felt more strongly (either positively or negatively) about the changes to their workplace as a result of unionization.
The final question on the mail survey asked respondents whether they would be willing to take part in a confidential telephone interview, and if so, to provide a first name and a phone number. Forty percent of respondents agreed to be interviewed. One hundred and five potential interviewees were randomly selected from those who volunteered; care was taken to ensure that the selected interviewees were demographically representative of respondents overall on characteristics such as province, gender, visible minority status, disability status and rural/urban status. In Summer and Fall 2008, 50 semi-structured interviews were completed, in which respondents were asked to provide more detail about their experiences as a RSMC. Interviews lasted from 20 minutes to more than an hour. Although no one explicitly declined to be interviewed after volunteering, many selected interviewees could not be contacted after multiple attempts.
The survey data was entered into the Statistical Program for the Social Sciences (SPSS) in Spring 2008. All interviews and written comments were transcribed; French comments and interviews were translated into English. Descriptive statistics were produced for the quantitative data and the main themes were identified in the qualitative data. Analyzed together, the quantitative and qualitative results provide a rich description of the working conditions and experiences of rural and suburban mail carriers in Canada.
Who works as a Rural or Suburban Mail Carrier?
Despite popular culture representations of the ‘mailman’, rural and suburban mail carriers are overwhelmingly women. Only three in ten (28%) survey respondents were men. The average age of respondents was 51 (s.d=10.3), with the middle 50% of respondents aged between 45 and 59. Seventy-eight percent of respondents were married, but only 29% of respondents had children under the age of 18 living at home with them. Visible minorities and aboriginals are slightly under-represented compared to the general Canadian population; 12% of respondents were visible minorities compared to 15% of Canadians overall and 3% of respondents were aboriginal compared to 4% of Canadians overall (Statistics Canada 2006). Most respondents worked in Ontario (33%) and Quebec (29%); fewer respondents were from Eastern Canada (17%) and Western Canada (21%). Just under a third of respondents (29%) completed the survey in French, and thus are likely Francophones. Ninety-two percent (92%) of the Francophone respondents worked in Quebec. Approximately three out of five respondents (58%) had only a high school diploma, and an additional one in five respondents (21%) had a college diploma. A smaller proportion of respondents (16%) do not have a high school diploma.
The more typical RSMC worker, then, appears to be an older, married woman, whose children have moved away from home, or who has not had children. As is common for women of this generation, the majority of respondents have not acquired post-secondary education. Employment as an RSMC allows these older women to work in their communities in a position which does not require either advanced educational qualifications or heavy physical labour.
RSMCs generally have a long tenure in their position. On average, respondents have worked for Canada Post for 13 years (as either an independent contractor or an employee). Only 14% of respondents had started in their jobs since the CUPW unionization 4 years ago. One in five respondents had worked for CPC for 20 years or more. RSMCs also tend to have started their position later in life, suggesting that this may be a second (or third) career for many carriers. On average, respondents started working for Canada Post at age 38; the middle 50% of respondents started working for CPC between ages 31 and 45.
Prior to becoming members of CUPW in January 2004, survey respondents had a range of statuses. The vast majority of respondents (69%) worked one or more routes alone prior to January 2004; for these workers the transition to becoming employees of Canada Post would have been the least disruptive. Only 16% of respondents had some other contracting arrangement prior to January 2004; the majority of these were people who shared routes with other family members. Very few survey respondents (1.4%) had worked as master contractors who bid on routes and then sub-contracted them to other workers. It is likely that many of these master contractors opted not to become employees or left their position shortly after becoming employees. The remaining (14%) of respondents had not worked for Canada Post prior to unionization.
The Experience of Working as a Rural or Suburban Mail Carrier
RSMCs work out of two types of offices: Canadian Postmaster and Assistant (CPAA) offices and Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) offices. These two designations refer to which union represents the inside workers – such as postmasters, sorters, and counter staff – in a postal office. There has historically been an ongoing competition for membership between the two unions. CUPW typically represents mail workers in urban and suburban areas, and the larger union, with about 54,000 members. The CPAA typically represents mail workers in rural areas and currently has about 6,500 members. All mail carriers are represented by CUPW, regardless of which union represents the inside staff in their office. Carriers working out of offices unionized by CPAA are thought of as ‘rural’ mail carriers, whereas carriers working out of offices unionized by CUPW offices are referred to as ‘suburban’ mail carriers. In this sample, slightly more than half of respondents (53%) work out of CPAA offices and the remainder work out of CUPW offices.
Most respondents work in small offices, with few other RSMCs. Half of respondents work out of offices with four or fewer inside staff, and three quarters of respondents work out of offices with ten or fewer inside staff. Sixteen percent of respondents report that they are the only RSMC working out of their office; and half of respondents report that there are three or fewer other RSMCs working out of their offices. Only 5% of respondents work in offices where there are twenty or more other RSMC workers. As expected, workers in CPAA offices reported that there were substantially fewer inside staff and substantially fewer RSMCs than workers in CUPW offices. The result is a bargaining unit whose members have a wide diversity of local issues and working conditions. Many workers have few other members to talk to about their experiences and concerns as an RSMC. In rural areas, post offices are often geographically distant from each other, which makes it more challenging to bring people together at meetings or to promote a sense of solidarity with other union members. In some offices, RSMC members work alongside CUPW members in the urban letter carriers (LC) bargaining unit, who receive more compensation for doing the same work. This has resulted in increased tension and competition between the bargaining units within the union.
RSMCs commonly report working four (12%), five (17%), six (19%) or seven (15%) scheduled hours each day. Half of respondents work 6 scheduled hours a day or less, and half work more than this. On average, rural mail carriers report having less scheduled hours each day than suburban mail carriers (5.4 hours compared to 6.2 hours). Only half of respondents (50%) report that their routes take about as long as their scheduled hours. Fourty-four percent (44%) of respondents report that their routes take longer than scheduled, suggesting that the scheduled hours do not necessarily reflect the amount of actual working time. Many report feeling “rushed to finish in the time allowed.” One carrier stated emphatically: “I HATE the way our routes are not even close to time allotted.” Suburban mail carriers were more likely to report that their routes take longer than scheduled, whereas rural mail carriers were more likely to say that their routes take as long as scheduled. Unexpectedly, 6% of respondents say that their routes actually take less time than scheduled.
The question of scheduled hours is closely linked to fairness in pay. A common sentiment amongst the RSMCs was captured by the simple declaration: “I’m sick of Canada Post nickel and diming us.” About one in five respondents (22%) say that they would like to work more hours as a mail carrier. When asked whether they would prefer to work more hours, however, many interviewees indicated that they are already “overworked and underpaid.” As one RSMC suggested, “Would [I] like to work more hours? I’d like to get paid for the hours I work now. I would like to work full time AND be paid full time wages.” About one in five respondents (22%) report that they have other regular employment in addition to their work as a mail carrier.