Canada Post workers may go on strike by the end of the week after their union issued a strike notice, potentially marking the second shutdown in six months for the Crown corporation.
Roughly 55,000 employees could be on the picket lines as early as Friday, in a strike that could affect millions of residents and businesses who rely on the public courier service, which transports roughly 300 million parcels annually.
“Canada Post is talking about cuts to services, closing post offices, ending door-to-door delivery, outsourcing jobs to private franchises, and even eyeing privatization,” wrote the Canadian Union of Postal Workers in a statement Monday.
“Postal workers went on strike last year to defend their rights but also to save a cherished public service. Though the previous government halted the strike, no new collective agreements have been reached.”
CUPW initiated a month-long strike on Nov. 15 after Canada Post proposed an 11.5 per cent wage increase over four years. The union had requested a 24 per cent increase over that time period to offset the rising cost of living.
The 32-day strike ended in December when the federal government extended existing collective agreements until May 22, 2025.
Labour costs represent the lion’s share of Canada Post’s operating expenses, accounting for $3.9 billion in 2023, or just over 50 per cent of the Crown corporation’s nearly $7.8 billion in total expenditures.
Including employee benefits, that figure jumps to nearly 63 per cent of Canada Post’s total operational costs, which closed out that same year with a whopping $845 million operating loss.
The company said another strike will only further exacerbate the company’s dire financial state and has called for a deal to be made ahead of Friday.
According to Canada Post, it won’t be accepting any new items after Friday at midnight if the strike goes ahead, while their current inventory will remain in storage for later delivery.
Canada Post said it “remains committed to reaching collective agreements focused on protecting and enhancing the wages and benefits that are important to our people while reflecting the Corporations’ current realities.”
However, CUPW said its 72-hour strike notice was in response to “the employer’s recent indication that it may unilaterally change working conditions and suspend employee benefits.”
The federal government appointed Industrial Inquiry Commissioner William Kaplan in December to review Canada Post’s failing business model.
In his report published Friday, Kaplan said that Canada Post is “facing an existential crisis,” a statement that CUPW rejects.
Among his recommendations, Kaplan suggested ending door-to-door letter mail delivery for individual residences while maintaining it for businesses and called for weekend parcel delivery to become an “immediate priority” for Canada Post.
“Without weekend parcel delivery, Canada Post’s market share will continue to decline,” wrote Kaplan, who also recommended moratoriums for rural post office closures and the removal of community mailbox conversions.
He also recommended that Canada Post “have the flexibility to hire part-time employees” to “assist with volume during the week.”
CPUW said it “fundamentally disagreed” with the majority of Kaplan’s recommendations. Additionally, it “objected” to the “entire process” in a statement released last week.
“These recommendations amount to service cuts, contracting out, and major rollbacks to important provisions in our existing collective agreements. There is also no guarantee that if these changes are made, Canada Post will increase its parcel business,” it said.
“The report categorically rejected our ideas for service expansion as an immediate solution to Canada Post’s financial issue – despite the proven success at revenue generation for many major post offices around the world.”