Canada Post President Moya Greene is fond of mentioning that the post office is one of Canada's top 100 employers.

This claim to fame is peppered throughout Greene's speeches. The top 100 logo is all over Canada Post's material. But what does it mean to be at the top? Is the corporation really one of the best? And if not, what can employees do to encourage the corporation to improve its performance as an employer?

What does it mean to be at the top?

Canada's Top 100 Employers is a national competition, which professes to decide which employers provide the best workplaces to employees.

Mediacorp, a publishing firm, invites thousands of employers to take part in this competition. Employers fill in an application and provide information on eight work-related issues. They are assigned grades in each category and then compared with others to determine whether they make the top 100. In other words, Canada Post managers apply for, and win the award based on all the nice things they say about themselves. Employees have no input.

Is Canada Post one of the best employers?

First-rate employers provide their employees with good wages and benefits. They also respect the rules or provisions they have freely negotiated with unions, if their employees are unionized. Good employers may have workplace problems but they know they need to work with employee representatives to find solutions, or the problems won't go away.

So how is Canada Post performing as an employer? Management has been much less willing to work with the union in recent years to solve workplace problems. Moreover, senior managers appear to be moving in a direction that is not in the interest of employees.

This fact sheet outlines five areas of concern.