MORRISBURG – Mail services at Canada Post resumed operation October 14 after a nearly two week shut down of services. Rural and suburban carrier employees walked off the job September 25, shuttering mail delivery across the country. The two bargaining units of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers have been out of contract for nearly two years and already been on strike once before.
The union shifted to a full strike, in part, after the federal government mandated changes to the postal system, including ending the remaining door-to-door delivery routes which account for 25 per cent of the system.
CUPW announced late last week that it was changing from a national strike to rotating strikes. In response, while mail delivery will resume, Canada Post has suspended all service guarantee delivery times.
The rotating strike locations will be announced by the union daily, with workers off the job at that location. On October 14, Dawson Creek and Fort St. John in British Columbia, and St. Anthony, NL were on strike for the day.
“We did not take the decision to move to a nation-wide strike lightly. Postal workers would much rather have new collective agreements and be delivering mail instead of taking strike action,” said CUPW National President Jan Simpson. “Yet, we could not stand by as the Government announced its plans to allow Canada Post to gut our postal service and slash thousands of our jobs.”
Canada Post claimed that over 170 days of strike action in less than a year is further damaging the corporation – which has lost an average of $500 million per year since 2018.
“This prolonged period of instability, uncertainty and disruption has significantly impacted Canadians and Canadian businesses, often without warning. As a result, they have moved to other carriers or are avoiding Canada Post altogether. The move to a different form of strike activity will not change that,” the company said. “The impact on the company’s already dire financial position is significant and mounting.”
Rural and Suburban carrier bargaining unit members have been without a contract since January 2024. Canada Post presented an offer to the union on October 3.
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