More than 50,000 Canada Post workers officially on strike, says union
Posted November 15, 2024 12:49 am.
Last Updated November 15, 2024 1:53 pm.
Approximately 55,000 Canada Post workers are on strike as of Friday after failing to reach a negotiated agreement with their employer.
“After a year of bargaining with little progress, postal workers made the difficult decision to strike,” the CUPW said in a news release.
“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. Instead, Canada Post left us no choice when it threatened to change our working conditions and leave our members exposed to layoffs.”
The CUPW issued a 72-hour strike notice earlier in the week, saying it’s been asking for fair wages, safer working conditions and other improvements over nearly a year of bargaining.
“This is not just for us. There is a whole labour movement going on,” Canada Post employee Richard Legendre said during an interview with Breakfast Television on Friday. “People are feeling the impact, and we’re not going to take it without a fight.”
Canada Post served the union with the lockout notice not long after but had said it didn’t intend to lock workers out.
“This decision will have a significant and immediate impact on millions of Canadians, small businesses and charities who count on Canada Post during the busy holiday season,” a Canada Post spokesperson said. “As well, a national strike by CUPW means service to remote and northern regions that rely on Canada Post is shut down.”
Dan Kelly, president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), said this is “really bad timing” and a terrible blow to small businesses, most of which still rely on the traditional mail service.
“We’re just getting the ports back in operation, and now retailers may start to receive goods again that were frozen in the ports for a while, but now they’re going to struggle to get them out to their end consumer because of the postal strike.”
The impact of a strike
The Crown corporation previously said that if there is labour action, it will do its best to minimize service disruptions, but delays may be unavoidable.
“Mail and parcels will not be processed or delivered for the duration of the national strike, and some post offices will be closed,” Canada Post said as part of a news release. “Service guarantees will be impacted for items already in the postal network. No new items will be accepted until the national disruption is over.”
It also warned that a labour disruption would exacerbate its already serious financial situation. A competitive parcel delivery market has increasingly challenged Canada Post in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Shutting down facilities across the country will affect Canada Post’s entire national network,” Canada Post noted. “Processing and delivery may take some time to fully return to normal.”
“The negotiations are very, very difficult,” Labour Minister Steve MacKinnon told reporters in Montreal on Friday morning, adding that little progress has been made.
MacKinnon said he is working to facilitate the conclusion of a collective agreement, but each day brings “a new series of issues” that complicate efforts toward finding a resolution.
Kelly said Ottawa should step in soon to intervene with back-to-work legislation or send the matter to the Canada Industrial Relations Board.
The minister said the government is not looking at forcing workers back on the job.
With files from The Canadian Press
