Canada Post mail delivery stops nationwide as workers go on strike | CBC News (2024)

Canada Post workers went on strike early Friday after failing to reach an agreement with their employer, shutting down the corporation's mail service across the country.

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) says approximately 55,000 workers in its urban, rural and suburban mail carrierbargaining units are off the job, saying little progress has been madeduring bargaining.

"Canada Post had the opportunity to prevent this strike, but it has refused to negotiate real solutions to the issues postal workers face every day," the union said in a statement. "Instead, Canada Post left us no choice when it threatened to change our working conditions and leave our members exposed to layoffs."

WATCH | Canada Post workers officially go on strike:

Canada Post mail delivery stops nationwide as workers go on strike | CBC News (1)

Canada Post workers on strike, mail and parcels won't be delivered

14 days ago

Duration 2:51

55,000 Canada Post workers are on strike, a move that will force businesses and consumers to seek shipping alternatives ahead of a busy holiday season.

Mail and parcels, the Crown corporation said,will not be processed or delivered during the strike, and some post offices will be closed. Service guarantees will be affected for items already in the postal network and no new items will be accepted.

The strike action comes ahead of Black Friday andthe beginning of the holiday season, when Canadians rely on the postal service to send and receive gifts, packages and cards.

The companysaid in a statement Fridaythe shutdown will affect millions of Canadians and businesses.

  • What impact is the CanadaPost strike having on you? What shouldbe done about it?Leave your story, questions and opinionshereand you might be featured on Cross Country Checkup's Nov. 17 show.

The union and the company have agreed that somebenefit cheques will still be mailed out during the strike, including for the Canada Child Benefit, Old Age Securityand the Canada Pension Plan.However, the arrangement only includes government organizations that signed up to participateahead of the strike.

Once operations resume, the corporation said, mail and parcels will be delivered on a first-come, first-serve basis, but "a national strike of any length will impact service to Canadians well after the strike activity ends."

  • What you need to know about your mail during the Canada Post strike
  • With Canada Post strike underway, small business owners scramble to make other arrangements

'Our demands are reasonable'

Both parties are still at the negotiating table and talks continue.

The two sides began talks toward a new contract on Nov. 15, 2023.

Workers gave Canada Post a 72-hour strike notice on Tuesday,as the Crown corporation warnedthat a potential strike would further impact its already dire financial situation.

Canada Post served the union with a lockout notice not long after but said it didn't intend to lock workers out.

Company spokesperson Jon Hamilton confirmed to CBC News that both parties were still negotiating as of middayFriday.

"There's a closed sign at Canada Post and that's killing us," said Hamilton. "This is the holiday season. So this is a big season for Canada Post, it's a big season for our employees, it's a big season for Canadiansand we are essentially out of the market. So that's a huge problem and is only going to exacerbate the situation that we already found ourselves in."

WATCH | Canada Post spokesperson says organization needs to make 'real changes':

Canada Post mail delivery stops nationwide as workers go on strike | CBC News (2)

Canada Post spokesperson says organization needs to make 'real changes' as workers strike

14 days ago

Duration 6:03

Canada Post and the union representing postal workers are still at the table, but large issues remain, a spokesperson for the Crown corporation says. John Hamilton says Canada’s mail and shipping company needs ‘real changes,’ including a shift in how they handle parcel delivery in the face of increased competition.

Canada Post says it has lost $490 million in the first half of 2024, part of a total $3 billion lost since 2018. The company says a strike will only further contribute to its already dire financial circumstances, and that the unions demands will lead to more fixed costs that Canada Post can't afford.

Meanwhile, CUPW representatives saythat the Crown corporation's executives are still accepting bonuses, and that the companycan dig itself out of its financial situation by offering expanded services to Canadians.

"We are at the table because we know the best way to get a collective agreement in place is by both sides negotiating the contract," said CUPW president Jan Simpson.

In an updated statement late Friday, the union also said Canada Post has said it will no longer honour collective agreements as of 8 a.m. ET. It claimedthe corporationcould cancel vacation time and is "threatening" to lay-off employees.

"Canada Post has shown its true stripes. The boss is not your friend," it said.

WATCH | Union 'trying our best' to reach agreement, CUPW president says:

Canada Post mail delivery stops nationwide as workers go on strike | CBC News (3)

Union 'trying our best' to get negotiated contract for Canada Post workers, national president says

14 days ago

Duration 6:11

Jan Simpson, national president of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, says workers can't accept a contract that still has many outstanding issues — including around health, safety and pensions — from previous rounds of bargaining.

CUPW was in a legal strike position as of Nov. 3, after a legally mandated cooling-off period. In a vote last month, more than 95 per cent of both urban and rural workers backed a strike mandate, the union has said.

Canada Post's latest contract offer included annual wage increases that amounted to 11.5 per cent over four years. It also offered protection of the defined benefit pension for current employees, as well as job security and health benefits.

CUPW said thatwasn't enough and that the two parties remain far apart on several issues.

"Our demands are reasonable: fair wages, safe working conditions, the right to retire with dignity, and the expansion of services at the public post office," it said in its statement.

No plans for back-to-work bill right now

During previous work stoppages in 2011 and 2018, the federal government passed legislation which sent Canada Post employees back to work. So far, government officials say they have no plans tointroduce legislation to end the strike.

"I'm not looking at any other solution other than negotiation right now," Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon told reporters in Montreal on Friday morning.

"Every day is a new day in collective bargaining, and we are going to continue to support the parties in any way we can and make sure that they are able to try and get a negotiated agreement."

A special mediator has been appointed to support the two sides, MacKinnon confirmed ahead of the strike.

Mark Lubinski, the Toronto local president of CUPW, said that Canada Post workers have fallen behind as the cost of living has gone up, with high rent and inflation leaving employees "unable to survive."

"We're prepared to be out here as long as we need to be," Lubinski told CBC News.

He said Canada Post workers know that they providean essential serviceand that they have no other choiceafter a year of negotiations with the Crown corporation.

"The climate seems to be that Canada Post and other employers are waiting for the government to legislate us back to work," Lubinski said. "We want to negotiate a fair contract for our workers."

Canada Post mail delivery stops nationwide as workers go on strike | CBC News (4)

Canada Post mail delivery stops nationwide as workers go on strike | CBC News (2024)

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