Canada Post employees will be returning to work Tuesday after the federal labour relations board ordered and end to the month-long strike.
The Canada Industrial Relations Board ordered Canada Post employees back to work after determining that negotiations between the Crown corporation and the federal government had reached an “impasse.”
“After two days of hearings, the CIRB has issued its ruling confirming the parties are at an impasse,” wrote the Crown corporation in a statement released Sunday.
“As a result, the CIRB has ordered employees to return to work and postal operations to begin to resume at 8 am local time on December 17, 2024.”
Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon requested the CIRB implement the order, which included an extension of the current collective agreements.
“Postal services will resume on Tuesday. The Canada Industrial Relations Board has found that Canada Post and CUPW are unlikely to reach a deal by the end of the year. The Board has therefore ordered an extension of the current collective agreements, and a resumption of operations,” said MacKinnon in a post to X.
“An Industrial Inquiry Commission will also be looking into the structural issues of the conflict and will issue a report on May 15. This report will serve as a solid basis for both parties to negotiate their collective agreements.”
The strike lasted 32 days.
Over 55,000 workers first walked off the job Nov. 15 as the Canadian Union of Postal Workers looked to increase wages, pensions and improve their health benefits.
“While the terms of the existing collective agreements will be extended until May 22, 2025, we also put forward an offer to implement a wage increase of five percent for employees, which was proposed in the company’s last global offer,” said Canada Post.
The wage hike will be retroactive to one day after each collective agreement’s expiry date, being Dec. 31 2023 for the rural and suburban mail carriers and Jan. 31, 2023 for employees of Canada Post’s urban unit.
The union criticized the government’s intervention on Friday, however, there has been no immediate comment from CUPW regarding the CIRB order.
“We denounce in the strongest terms this assault on our constitutionally protected right to free and fair collective bargain and our right to strike,” wrote CUPW in a statement on Friday.
The federal government has invoked back-to-work legislation in previous Canada Post strikes, including disputes in 2018 and 2011.