Members of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) are back on the picket line after declaring a national strike Thursday evening.
As a result, Canada Post’s operations will shut down and mail and parcels will not be processed or delivered for the duration of the national strike.
All mail and parcels in the postal network will be secured and delivered once operations resume.
The Crown corporation and union have agreed to continue the delivery of socio-economic cheques, ensuring government financial assistance delivered by mail will reach Canadians who rely on it.
The strike comes after Joël Lightbound, minister of government transformation, public works and procurement, announced several changes to be made to Canada Post on Thursday.
“This announcement was an outrage. Minister Lightbound gave the union no indication that he was going to do this when leadership met with him last week,” stated CUPW.
“The Minister said he had the 'utmost respect' for postal workers. This is no way to show it.”
Lightbound’s Thursday press conference highlighted the financial state of the Crown corporation, sharing that since 2018, the company has accumulated more than $5 billion in losses and it is losing $10 million every day.
“Structural challenges, combined with outdated restrictions and stalled negotiations between labour and management, have further limited the corporation's ability to adapt,” stated Lightbound.
“This situation is unsustainable. Canada Post is effectively insolvent, and repeated bailouts are not a long-term solution. Transformation is required to ensure the survival of Canada Post and protect the services Canadians rely on.”
The recommendations include changes to letter mail delivery standards so that non-urgent mail can move on the ground instead of in the air, converting the remaining 4 million door-to-door addresses to community mailboxes and lifting the moratorium on rural post offices, which has not been changed in three decades.
The rural moratorium covers close to 4000 locations, some of which were in rural areas when the moratorium was first placed, but have since grown into more populated areas while still being required to operate as rural offices.
Canada Post has been directed to return to the government with a plan to modernize and right-size its network.
The government is also reviewing the process for increases to the stamp rate, with the intention of modernizing and shortening it.
“Canada Post is a vital national institution worth preserving,” added Lightbound.
“The measures announced today will help place the corporation on a stronger financial footing and provide the flexibility it needs to adapt to a rapidly changing environment.”
While the above changes were welcomed by the corporation, CUPW said that the changes could result in major job losses.
“The Minister emphasized the importance to serve all Canadians, but these recommendations will only undermine public service,” added CUPW.
“We have no details on how any of them will be implemented.”
CUPW also stated that following Thursday’s announcement, federal mediators told the union that Canada Post needed until next week to present new offers.
