LAKELAND – Canada Post workers have been ordered to return to work, following a decision by the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) announced on Dec. 16, which means workers should be back at work on Tuesday.
On Friday, Federal Minister Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon directed the CIRB, under the Canada Labour Code, to determine whether Canada Post and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) would be able to reach a new collective agreement by the end of the year.
If progress was unlikely, the CIRB could force postal workers to go back to work under an extended contract until May 2025, said MacKinnon in a Dec. 13 statement. On Monday morning, it was announced that the CIRB had ruled a return to work.
MacKinnon reasons that the “ongoing conflict” between Canada Post and the CUPW significantly impacted Canadians, including small businesses, charities, seniors, First Nations, and remote communities.
“This is particularly difficult during this period when many people rely on postal services to receive essential parcels such as medications, and official documents,” said MacKinnon.
MacKinnon is also appointing an Industrial Inquiry Commission (IIC) to investigate “issues” preventing the CUPW and Canada Post from reaching a resolution. The IIC will also give recommendations by May 2025 on how new agreements can be reached.
“Canadians cannot continue to bear the consequences of this impasse. Our priority is to restore postal services while ensuring a fair balance between the rights of workers, those of the employer, but also those of Canadians,” MacKinnon said.
CUPW was unhappy with the federal intervention. “The Union denounces in the strongest terms this assault on our constitutionally protected right to collectively bargain and to strike,” reads a CUPW announcement shortly after the release of MacKinnon’s statement.
“This order continues a deeply troubling pattern in which the government uses its arbitrary powers to let employers off the hook, drag their feet, and refuse to bargain in good faith with workers and their unions,” according to CUPW.
Background
Over 50,000 Canada Post workers began the national strike a month ago on Nov. 15, with the CUPW seeking better wage, secured pension, safer working conditions, “and the expansion of services at the public post office,” reads a Nov. 15 CUPW news release.
According to CUPW, little progress was made after a year of bargaining leading to the strike, stating that Canada Post refused to negotiate, but instead threatened to change working conditions for workers, exposing members to layoffs.
Canada Post wants to increase part-time and temporary roles, introduce weekend delivery, and introduce more flexibility to outdated, mail-based delivery model. These changes, it argues, are necessary for the Crown corporation to remain competitive in the industry.
“With losses of more than $3 billion since 2018 and a $315 million loss before tax in the third quarter of 2024, Canada Post requires negotiated agreements that let all employees focus on the future, without adding new fixed costs that will hamper its ability to compete,” according to a Nov. 26 update from Canada Post.
But CUPW National President Jan Simpson says Canada Post’s financial losses is due to the crown corporation’s mismanagement and refusal to use existing options to cut costs without impacting jobs.
“Canada Post management talks about the urgency of reaching a deal while they still sit in their offices or at home collecting their six figure salaries and bonuses,” she said on Nov. 27. “No CUPW member from Canada Post, Union leadership included, are receiving a salary right now – things could not be more urgent for our side.”
