Headlines News
Canada Post workers to strike Friday if no agreement

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) intend to begin striking, Friday, May 23, if no agreement is reached before then.

If CUPW initiates rotating strike activity, Canada Post intends to continue delivering in unaffected areas while working to reach agreements. If labour disruption is nationwide, mail and parcels will not be delivered and no new items will be accepted until the disruption is over. Further, processing and delivery may take some time to fully return to normality after the strike ends.

The potential for another strike comes at a critical moment for the postal system. Since 2018, Canada Post has recorded more than $3 billion in losses before tax, and it will post another significant loss for 2024. In early 2025, the federal government announced repayable funding of up to $1.034 billion for Canada Post to prevent insolvency.

Meanwhile, an industrial inquiry commission (IIC), which was established to review the issues in Canada Post’s collective bargaining dispute with CUPW, as well as the company’s broader challenges, submitted its final report.

It said, “Canada Post is facing an existential crisis: It is effectively insolvent, or bankrupt. Without thoughtful, measured, staged, but immediate changes, its fiscal situation will continue to deteriorate.”

IIC makes the following recommendations:

• phase out daily door-to-door letter mail delivery for individual addresses, establish community mailboxes where possible and maintain daily delivery to businesses;
• lift moratoriums on rural post office closures and community mailbox conversions;
• hire part-time employees to deliver parcels on the weekend and to assist with volume during the week and pay them the same rates as regular employees, as well as provide access to pro rata benefits, or payments in lieu, and pension;
• introduce dynamic routing to reflect volumes to avoid trapped time and overtime; and
• amend the time-consuming approval process for postage increases.

For the full report, click here.

“We welcome the report’s recommendations and will strive to work with our bargaining agents to address our challenges. We remain committed to securing our future so that we can better serve and support the evolving needs of Canadians and businesses,” said Canada Post.