Canada Post, Union Respond to Government’s Intervention to End Strike

Members of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers picket outside the Canada Post Pacific Processing Centre in Richmond, B.C., on Nov. 27, 2024. The Canadian Press/Darryl Dyck

Canada Post said it will cooperate with the federal labour minister’s move to get employees back to work, while the union has called the move an “abuse of power.”

Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon said he was asking the Canadian Industrial Relations Board to intervene in the strike action taken by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) and get them back to work.

MacKinnon announced on Dec. 13 that Canada Post employees have been ordered to return to work. The collective agreement, which the union has been negotiating, has been extended to May 2025.

CUPW national president Jan Simpson said the order infringes on workers’ rights.

“We denounce in the strongest terms this assault on our constitutionally protected right to free and fair collective bargain and our right to strike,” she said in a Dec. 13 statement on the CUPW website. “We must stand strong in the face of this abuse of power.”

Canada Post will fully participate in the process that MacKinnon has defined, the organization told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement.

“While that unfolds, we look forward to welcoming our employees back to work and serving Canadians and customers,” the statement said.

The union said that it will consider every option available, once it has reviewed the minister’s order.

Canada Post said it would post its start-up plans online when they’ve been finalized.

CUPW has been on strike for nearly four weeks, with 55,000 workers hitting the picket lines on Nov. 15.

An Industrial Inquiry Commission has been appointed to look at the issues holding up an agreement. MacKinnon will direct the commission to provide recommendations by May 15, 2025.

CUPW negotiators last sat down with Canada Post on Dec. 9. At that meeting, the union outlined demands about wage increases over the next four years, a cost-of-living allowance, expanded medical days, increases to short-term disability payments, and better rights for temporary workers.

The union said that some progress had been made, but that the Crown corporation would not budge on some demands.

As the strike drags on, businesses and Canadians are reflecting on the cost of the workers’ action so close to Christmas.

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business said that as of Dec. 4, businesses had lost $1 billion due to the strike.

A recent poll found that 34 percent of Canadians sided with Canada Post while 29 percent supported the union. The rest said they were not sure or did not support either side.