Canadians could see their mail service come to a halt again in just over two weeks, with the deadline looming for Canada Post and the union representing its 55,000 employees to reach a deal.
Both sides have until May 22 to reach an agreement, or face the prospect of a work stoppage through a strike or lockout for the second time in less than six months.
Employees went on strike for 32 days in November and December last year, disrupting the nation’s postal service ahead of the busy holiday season.
Canada Post and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) never reached a new work agreement, with the strike only ending when Steven MacKinnon, the labour minister at the time, ordered postal workers back to work and both sides to the bargaining table under a special government mediator.
A renewed strike or lockout “would be absolutely deadly,” said Dan Kelly, president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business. “To add this to the tariff fight just seems cruel and unusual for small business owners.”
Canada Post and CUPW were back at the bargaining table both this week and last with a mediator ahead of the approaching deadline.
In an emailed statement to the Star, a Canada Post spokesperson said they would not share specific details on the state of the talks at the request of the mediator, but that Canada Post was committed to the bargaining process.
“While our top priority remains reaching new collective agreements at the table that will help us serve the changing needs of Canadians while providing good jobs,” the spokesperson continued, “we’re preparing for a number of potential outcomes, including the possibility of a labour disruption on or after May 22.”
CUPW confirmed in an email to the Star that it was still in talks with Canada Post. In a statement last week, the union said the two sides agreed to discuss topics that had already been partially agreed upon “with the aim of finalizing them as a way to restart and reinvigorate the discussions.”
“We did not address the issues where significant differences remain this week,” Jan Simpson, CUPW national president, added in the statement.
This is the first time Canada Post and CUPW have been at the bargaining table since early March, when talks broke down and both sides accused the other of digging in their heels.
At issue in mediations are disagreements over wages and a push by Canada Post to expand delivery to weekends. CUPW has also put forward proposals with changes to the group benefits plans and protections against technological changes that Canada Post has said would “create more rigidity in our delivery model, add significant costs, and accelerate the company’s declining financial position.”
The union has lost some leverage now that the holiday season is over, said Rafael Gomez, a professor and director of the Centre for Industrial Relations and Human Resources at the University of Toronto. He could also see less public support for employees if a strike or lockout does occur, explaining some might see it as “unpatriotic” to disrupt Canadian businesses amid U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Still, he said the union is “pretty sophisticated” and he expects them to reach a deal.
“They’ll try to get the best deal they can,” he said. “And if they don’t get everything they want, they probably will work toward getting a shorter deal so that they can go back and negotiate a better contract sooner rather than later.”
Experts also note that Canada Post’s dire financial situation means it may struggle to meet workers halfway on their contract demands.
The Crown corporation has seen dwindling revenue and fewer deliveries made over the past several years.
Kelly noted that “a number of retailers” told him during the strike last year that they were no longer going to rely on Canada Post for mail services and had turned to alternatives.
The company sounded the alarm around its financial situation at a public hearing before the federal Industrial Inquiry Commission (IIC) in January, just days after parting ways with its chief financial officer and receiving a $1-billion loan from the federal government.
Under the labour ministry’s order, the IIC, led by mediator William Kaplan, has until May 15 to probe potential ways to reach a new contract between Canada Post and its union.
The inquiry’s recommendations are not binding, meaning either Canada Post or CUPW could reject the suggestions and trigger a restart of the strike.
In it’s statement, CUPW said it presented its position to the IIC and hoped “the commissioner’s recommendations will reflect what we said.”
Happening simultaneously is a legal challenge issued by CUPW, alleging the ministry’s pause of the strike violated union members’ constitutional right to strike. The legal fight is playing out before the Canadian Industrial Relations Board.
With files from The Canadian Press
