Canada Post is on strike (again). Here's what it means for your mail

Canadians are dealing with their second Canada Post strike in under a year, as The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) reacted to Thursday’s news of sweeping changes to the Crown corporation by announcing a nation-wide strike, effective immediately. Pickets were already in place at Canada Post operations on Friday morning.

Here’s how the strike might impact Canadians.

Canada Post noted that mail and parcels will not be processed or delivered for the duration of the strike, and that some post offices will be closed. Service guarantees are suspended for items already in the system, and no new items will be accepted until the disruption is over.

“All mail and parcels in the postal network will be secured and delivered as quickly as possible once operations resume,” Canada Post added in a statement.

The government is recommending that people use another courier to apply by mail, or to apply at a Service Canada Centre or passport office.

“In preparation for a possible labour disruption, we’ll deliver your passport through another courier,” it added  in a statement. “Some delays may occur.”

Canada Post and CUPW say they have agreed to “continue the delivery of socio-economic cheques during any labour disruption, for eligible and participating government organizations.”

They added: “The agreement ensures government financial assistance delivered by mail will reach seniors and other Canadians who rely on it.”

Many of Canada’s major banks are reminding customers that they can access bank statements and bills online, and can make payments through the bank’s website.

Several have also encouraged anyone needing a new debit or credit card to visit a branch.

Despite the sudden nature of the walk-out and the lack of advance notice, the strike appears to be legal.

Rafael Gomez, director of the Centre for Industrial Relations and Human Resources at the University of Toronto, notes: “They’re in a legal position to strike from the standpoint that a contract ended and CUPW has done everything that is legally required in order to get into a strike position.”

The last strike, which took place just before Christmas, ended with postal workers returning to their jobs — though a national ban on overtime work continues — but without a new contract. Instead, the government commissioned the Kaplan Report on the future of Canada Post, which it then drew on for many of Thursday’s recommendations.

“It was just sort of left in limbo,” Gomez says. “When you leave a file like this hanging, stuff like this kind of hits you in the face as if it’s out of nowhere, but it’s not. It’s been building.”

Procurement Minister Joël Lightbound unveiled the changes during a press conference, in which he noted: “Canada Post is effectively insolvent, and it is facing an existential crisis.”

Changes included transitioning the country’s remaining four million individual addresses to a community mailbox system over the next nine years; relaxing delivery standards to allow for more transportation of mail by ground rather than air; and ending a moratorium on closing rural post offices.

Not well. Jan Simpson, CUPW national president, said in a release: “This announcement was an outrage.”

Calling the announcement “slapdash” and “an insult to the public and to postal workers,” she concluded: “In response to the Government’s attack on our postal service and workers, effective immediately, all CUPW members at Canada Post are on a nation-wide strike.”

In its own release, Canada Post said: “We’re disappointed that the union chose to escalate their strike activity, which will further deteriorate Canada Post’s financial situation.” It added: “We understand that this latest update significantly impacts your business.”

It could, but it’s a tricky situation, says Gomez.

He points out that the federal government could invoke Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code to end the strike. But the last time it did that, to end a strike by airline flight attendants, the order was ignored, and public opinion sided with the union.

“Section 107 I think after that Air Canada incident was effectively delegitimized in the eyes of both the public and also the actors in the industrial relations system,” he says.

Another option would be a return-to-work vote in Parliament, which would have more legitimacy than the Canada Labour Code, but could be risky given that the Liberals still have a minority government, and could be toppled by a vote of confidence.

“Traditional bargaining should be the answer,” he concludes. “You hash it out.”

• Postal workers on strike after federal government announces end to door-to-door delivery
• Air Canada won't punish flight attendants over illegal strike, will pay for pre-flight work in new deal: union

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