What happened last time Canada Post workers went on a strike?

Postal workers are expected to go on strike at the end of this week, after Canada Post received notice from the union on Monday. The announcement comes more than six months after Canada Post workers went on strike in mid-November. The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) said the decision to strike was due to a year of unresolved negotiations. The union said, in a news release at the time, that  workers wanted fair wages, safe working conditions, the right to retire with dignity, and the expansion of services at the public post office. What happens to the parcels Canada Post has already accepted? As the strike approached mid-December, many small businesses were struggling to get their goods delivered , said Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) executive vice president of advocacy Corinne Pohlmann. Canada Post said it missed delivering roughly 12 million parcels in early December . On Dec. 13, former minister of labour Steven MacKinnon, who is currently the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, said in a post on X that he had asked the Canadian Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) “to assess the likelihood of the parties reaching negotiated agreements by the end of 2024 under the current circumstances.”

Statement on the dispute between the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) and Canada Post. pic.twitter.com/smxBvQveHq— Steven MacKinnon (@stevenmackinnon) December 13, 2024

If the CIRB found that the union and the corporation could not reach an agreement by the end of the year, MacKinnon said it would order Canada Post’s employees back to work. The union called the government’s involvement an “assault” on the constitutional right to collectively bargain and strike. “Small businesses have written off Canada Post for this holiday season,” said CFIB president Dan Kelly in a news release on Dec. 13 . He added that it would take weeks to clear backlogs in the system. According to CFIB data, 73 per cent of small business owners said they would be using Canada Post less in the future because of the strike. CFIB called for an “immediate truce” and for Canada Post and its employees to “resume operations while continuing to work through their differences.” Despite CFIB’s pleas and MacKinnon’s announcement, negotiations continued unsuccessfully. The union condemned government involvement. “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,” the union said . However, MacKinnon said the ongoing conflict had reached a “critical point” that was affecting Canadians, including those who needed essential parcels such as medications and official documents. The CIRB held two days of hearings. It made the decision to order Canada Post employees back to work on Dec. 17, after a 32-day-long strike. Canada Post reasserted its commitment to reaching negotiated agreements with CUPW that would help the company “better serve the changing needs of Canadians and provide good jobs to those who provide the service.” Meanwhile, the union called the decision “disappointing.” The terms of the collective agreement were extended until May 22. Following the order, the union and the corporation have continued negotiations. “When the parties met in December, January, and March, many of our issues remained unresolved,” the union said on May 2. Just over 10 days later, Canada Post said it was taking a “temporary pause in discussions.” On May 16, after hearings held this year between the union and Canada Post, a final report from the Industrial Inquiry Commission was released. It was presented as an “ objective assessment of the challenges facing the postal system and the fundamental obstacles in the negotiations between Canada Post and CUPW.” The commissioner of the report, William Kaplan, provided recommendations such as revising the Postal Charter’s delivery standards and ending the moratorium on post office closures and conversions to community mailboxes. The union said the recommendations amounted “to service cuts, contracting out, and major rollbacks to important provisions in our existing collective agreements” and that Canada Post had still not presented them with concrete plans. Canada Post said it received strike notice on Monday, and that operations will continue as usual at this time. “The potential for another strike comes at a critical moment for the postal system,” it said in a news release on Monday. “Canada Post  Since 2018, the Corporation has recorded more than $3 billion in losses before tax, and it will post another significant loss for 2024. In early 2025, the Government of Canada announced repayable funding of up to $1.034 billion for Canada Post to prevent insolvency.”

• 'We've lost Christmas': Canada Post won't be able to deliver holiday packages, experts say
• Canada Post strike: What happens to the parcels already accepted?

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