In the recent breakdown of collective bargaining with Canada
Post, the CUPW National President, Mike Palecek,
stated: "Our members gave us a clear mandate to take job
action if Canada Post refused to address our major issues –
health and safety, gender equality and preserving full-time, middle
class jobs." While the "job preservation" sought by
the CUPW might not specifically be referring to autonomous vehicles
or drones, the reality is that collective bargaining must
increasingly account for technological developments, such as
autonomous technologies, that are set to disrupt conventional
package delivery.
In the United States, the implementation of autonomous
technologies in the logistics sphere has already become a
contentious issue. In January 2018, UPS and the Teamsters faced off during
negotiations of a new collective agreement over the use of
drones and driverless vehicles to automate deliveries. As part of
the new collective agreement covering more than
