Ottawa, Canada – The union representing approximately 55,000 Canada Post employees has initiated a nationwide overtime ban, declaring that its negotiators will continue to evaluate the latest offers from the Crown corporation. The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) has instructed its members to refuse any work exceeding eight hours in a single day and 40 hours in a week.
This development unfolds as CUPW reached a legal strike position at midnight. The union confirmed that the overtime ban would proceed unless Canada Post agreed to a two week “truce” prior to the deadline, a proposal the corporation had previously rejected. CUPW stated that it is still thoroughly reviewing the offer tabled on Wednesday and decided to implement the overtime ban as a measure to “minimise disruptions to the public and lost days to members,” while cautioning that “additional actions may take place in the future.”
Letter carriers have been explicitly directed by CUPW to return to their depots and drop off any remaining mail after working eight hours, “regardless of whether they have completed their routes.” The union’s directive emphasised that this constitutes a legal strike action, and “all CUPW members must follow this direction,” adding that members cannot be disciplined for participating in legal strike activity.
The latest offer from Canada Post followed an evening meeting between the two sides, which was held at the union’s request. However, Canada Post stated that the meeting, which included mediators, yielded “no meaningful progress.” Spokesperson Lisa Liu revealed that the meeting lasted less than half an hour and that CUPW had raised only a small number of the many outstanding issues in an informal manner. Liu added that Canada Post had not yet received a formal response from the union regarding its proposals issued a day earlier.
Canada Post’s offers reportedly amount to a little more than 13 per cent in wage increases over four years, a figure that falls short of the union’s demand for closer to 19 per cent, which CUPW argues is necessary to compensate for years of rampant inflation. The union also raised significant concerns regarding Canada Post’s proposal to increase the number of part time staff and introduce “dynamic routing” – a model that could see mail delivery routes change daily to adapt to varying conditions – without clear, established rules governing the system. Furthermore, CUPW dismissed Canada Post’s offer of six extra personal days as mere “window dressing,” contending that these days are already allocated under the Canada Labour Code. The union also took issue with a proposal to remove workers’ “five minute wash up time.”
Meanwhile, Canada Post stated on Thursday that it is already observing a decline in mail volumes in anticipation of further labour disruption and is actively pushing for an urgent resolution to the dispute.
