Canada Post workers could strike again soon. Here’s why

After striking workers took to picket lines and a “couple million” packages piled up just before Christmas last year, Canada Post is back at the negotiation table with the union representing its employees this week.

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) and the postal service are trying to reach a deal on a new collective agreement before their old one runs out on May 22.

The strike in late 2024 ended when the Canada Industrial Relations Board ordered the two sides back to work on Dec. 15. It also extended the collective agreements between the workers and their employer until May 22, which is what employees have been working under ever since.

Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon also established an industrial inquiry commission in order to get a better understanding of Canada Post’s financial troubles, and why negotiations have not been successful thus far. That commission’s findings will come out on May 15.

The extension of the old collective agreement and its nearing expiry date are why the two sides are negotiating once again.

In other words, the order back to work was more like a pause of the strike, according to Hena Singh, an employment lawyer and mediator.

“We had a pause in the negotiations and the government sent everyone back to work to go through this commission process. And then now they’re all coming back to the table,” Singh said.

Singh adds that while it’s not abnormal for the government to order employees back to work — that’s how the recent rail workers strike and the B.C. port strike ended, for example — it is uncommon for them to appoint a commission to get to the root of the issue.

If the two sides don’t come to an agreement by May 22, Canada Post workers could go on strike again.

Since December, the two sides have had a few meetings to try and reach a deal. Talks on March 1 and 2 ended without any new agreement. The meetings on Wednesday and Thursday of this week were the next rounds of negotiations.

How have talks been going?

We don’t have exact details on the most recent rounds of negotiations, as both Canada Post and the union have not given any updates about this week’s talks.

Ahead of negotiations, the union representing Canada Post’s workers said it remained committed to achieving its goals of securing an agreement that would give workers “fair wages, health and safety protections, job security, and the right to retire with dignity.”

“It’s no secret that this has been a challenging round of bargaining for all of us,” CUPW said in a bulletin to members. It added in that memo that the meetings scheduled for April 30 and May 1 could continue if progress was being made.

CUPW told CBC News in an email on Friday that the two sides were “still in talks” today.