Canada Post workers are set to strike as early as Friday, May 23.
The company received a strike notice from the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) for both urban and rural bargaining units on Monday, May 19.
The strike, which is expected to begin at 12 a.m., on Friday, May 23, is a continuation of the Christmas 2024 negotiations.
The winter 2024 strike was paused when the Canada Industrial Relations Board ordered the two sides back to work ten days before Christmas, as packages piled up. Now, the Canada Industrial Relations Board order which extended collective agreements, is set to expire on May 22, as an agreement has not been made.
Operations are to continue as usual after the strike resumes on May 23, but customers should expect service delays.
Socio-economic cheques for the month of May will be delivered prior to the possibility of any strike activity, and both CUPW and Canada Post have agreed to continue delivering the cheques during any upcoming labour disruption.
鈥� which was formed to review key issues in the bargaining disputes between Canada Post and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, and the company's broader financial situation 鈥� recently published a report that made recommendations for changes needed to preserve the national postal service.
In the report, the Industrial Inquiry Commission stated that Canada Post is facing an "existential crisis and is effectively insolvent, or bankrupt."
IIC Commissioner William Kaplan was tasked with examining the current collective bargaining dispute between Canada Post and the union.
Commissioner Kaplan and the IIC made seven recommendations, including the end of door-to-door delivery for individual homes to preserve Canada Post "as a vital national institution."
However, it noted that daily delivery to businesses should be maintained.
"fundamentally disagree with the bulk of its recommendations and challenge some of the information on which it was based."
Canada Post is a Crown corporation owned by the federal government, but is responsible for managing its own operations, in accordance with the
Crown corporations are created by governments for specific public policy objectives, like delivering the mail to rural areas that are not financially lucrative for businesses to operate out of.
Crown Corporations do not operate with strictly commercial objectives.
"Performance [of Crown corporations] should be assessed based on the social and economic benefits they provide, not just on the money they make," said the .
Since 2018, Canada Post has recorded more than $3 billion in losses, and is expected to post further loss for 2024.
More information can be found at .
