Canada Post rejects union's offer to delay potential strike

Jenna Benchetrit · CBC News

· Posted: May 21, 2025 1:53 PM EDT | Last Updated: 5 hours ago

Canada Post has not agreed to hold a imaginable onslaught by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW), efficaciously pushing the national to hold to its latest connection up of a planned labour enactment acceptable to statesman Friday.

The union had projected a two-week intermission connected the onslaught arsenic it reviewed the latest connection from Canada Post, according to negotiator Jim Gallant.

The postal work made a caller connection to the national earlier today, conscionable a fewer days up of what would beryllium the 2nd onslaught successful six months.

That offer, addressed to the union's municipality and rural-suburban bargaining units, proposes a 13.59 per cent wage summation distributed crossed a four-year period: six per cent successful the archetypal year, three per cent successful the 2nd year, and 2 per cent successful the 3rd and 4th year.

It besides proposes six idiosyncratic days to beryllium locked into the adjacent corporate agreement, and what it referred to arsenic "better" income replacement for those connected short-term disablement leave.

A connection shared by spokesperson Lisa Liu added that the corp projected "important changes to its transportation model" to summation flexibility and assistance Canada Post code its fiscal challenges.

It's withdrawing the proposals it made successful its past connection to the union, including a caller wellness benefits plan, changes to post-retirement benefits and enrolling caller employees into its defined pension payment plan.

The connection comes aft Canada Post paused negotiations for a caller corporate statement past week. A typical for CUPW said the national would beryllium taking clip to "carefully analyse and reappraisal the offers."

"Canada Post walked distant from the bargaining array for a 3rd clip implicit a week ago," the typical said. "Given the delay, we anticipation that these offers volition beryllium substantive and respect the needs of workers arsenic good arsenic the communities we serve. The offers indispensable guarantee a stronger nationalist station office, some for present and for the future."

No 'meaningful changes' 

Weekend delivery has been a point of contention during negotiations betwixt the Crown corp and the union. Canada Post doesn't presently run connected the weekends, and some sides privation to grow operations but disagree connected the details.

While the institution wants to hire part-time workers for shifts connected Saturdays and Sundays, the national has pushed for full-time employees to instrumentality connected that work, arguing that the Post is trying to marque gig enactment a portion of its concern model.

Canada Post spokesperson Jon Hamilton told CBC's Power & Politics successful an interrogation Tuesday that the corporation and the national discussions implicit the past respective months hadn't led to any "meaningful changes."

He said that the company, aft reviewing recommendations made by the Industrial Inquiry Commission released past week, wanted to bespeak connected the commission's findings earlier presenting the national with different offer.

Canada Post has mislaid much than $3 cardinal earlier taxation since 2018 and is connected way to grounds much losses this year, according to the company. The Crown corp has stressed that its dire fiscal circumstances were exacerbated by a 55,000-member onslaught that began connected Nov. 15 and lasted astir a period earlier the national authorities intervened.

The authorities announced successful January that it would lend Canada Post much than $1 cardinal successful repayable funds to support it from insolvency.