Canada Post union calls for overtime ban as company, workers fail to reach agreement

The Canadian Press

· Posted: May 22, 2025 10:59 PM EDT | Last Updated: 3 hours ago

The national representing astir 55,000 Canada Post employees has called for a countrywide halt to overtime work, describing it a "legal onslaught action" and saying its negotiators volition proceed to reappraisal the latest declaration offers from the message carrier.

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers said precocious Thursday that members were being told to garbage immoderate enactment beyond 8 hours successful a time and 40 hours successful a week.

The latest salvo successful the long-running labour quality came with CUPW was acceptable to beryllium successful a ineligible onslaught presumption arsenic of midnight. 

It besides comes aft an evening gathering betwixt the 2 sides failed to pb to a deal.

WATCH | Last-minute meeting:

"The gathering lasted little than fractional an hr with CUPW raising lone a tiny fig of the galore outstanding issues successful an informal manner," Canada Post spokeswoman Lisa Liu said successful a statement. "It was unluckily not capable to show meaningful progress."

Liu said Canada Post asked the national to travel back, "with urgency," with a effect to the offers the institution presented earlier successful the week.

The national had said the offers "fall short," noting workers are seeking a 19 per cent wage hike aft years of rampant inflation.

Part-time play enactment has proved 1 of the biggest sticking points successful the negotiations.

Under caller corporate agreements, message carriers indispensable beryllium paid other for shifts connected Saturdays and Sundays, which are comparatively rare. Canada Post had pushed for a corps of part-time workers to beryllium deployed arsenic needed connected weekends and during highest periods successful effect to rising parcel demand, rather than paying wages to full-time employees astatine overtime rates.

The national connected Wednesday said absorption wanted to rise the fig of part-time positions successful municipality areas by 20 per cent, claiming that immoderate unit "would beryllium forced to enactment up to 30 hours per week."

Last week, a federally commissioned study projected part-timers among a sheaf of drastic reforms. Calling Canada Post efficaciously "bankrupt," it suggested a pivot toward bundle transportation arsenic good arsenic agrarian station bureau closures and much assemblage mailboxes, overhauls that would undo a long-standing moratorium connected some and besides spell beyond the scope of corporate bargaining.

The 162-page insubstantial by arbitrator William Kaplan homed successful connected Canada Post's flagging concern model. Asserting that the institution faces "an existential crisis," helium recommended ending regular door-to-door missive message transportation for idiosyncratic homes portion maintaining it for businesses.

Kaplan besides projected dynamic routing and part-time positions with compensation comparable to full-time positions. He argued against the imaginable of "gigified jobs," freelance enactment astatine often fluctuating wage rates and nary benefits.

On Wednesday, Canada Post rejected the union's telephone for a two-week "truce" that would person fixed workers clip to reappraisal the latest offers successful detail.

The national said it decided to proceed with an overtime prohibition to "minimize disruptions to the nationalist and mislaid days to members."

"Additional actions whitethorn instrumentality spot successful the future," the national said.

WATCH | Small concern owners stock concerns astir onslaught action: 

If workers were to deed the picket lines, it would halt transportation of astir 8.5 cardinal letters and 1.1 cardinal parcels per weekday, based connected 2023 figures.

The disruption would deepen the company's increasing fiscal hole. It notched an $803-million operating nonaccomplishment successful the archetypal 9 months of 2024, portion of $3.8 cardinal successful losses since 2018.

The enactment secured a $1.03-billion national indebtedness successful January.

It would besides beryllium the 2nd enactment stoppage successful astir six months.

A onslaught past twelvemonth affected millions of residents, shippers and e-commerce retailers.

Overall, it resulted successful an estimated $1.6 cardinal successful losses for tiny businesses, according to the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.