Canada Post workers vote to reject latest contract offer

Unionized workers at Canada Post have voted to reject the Crown corporation's latest contract offer.

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers said Friday that 68.5 per cent of urban mail carriers who voted were against the deal, while their rural and suburban colleagues were 69.4 per cent against.

The offer included wage hikes of about 13 per cent over four years but also added part-time workers that Canada Post has said are necessary to keep the postal service afloat.

The union had urged the roughly 55,000 postal service workers it represents to reject the proposal.

"It's time for Canada Post to come back to the bargaining table and start seriously negotiating," it said in a bulletin. 

"With these votes behind us, Canada Post must now recognize that the only way forward is to negotiate ratifiable collective agreements that meet postal workers’ needs."

A national overtime ban for members remains in effect.

Canada Post had said the offer reflected the company's "current realities while protecting items that are important to employees" and accounting for "needed changes to help begin to rebuild the company’s parcel business."

The Crown corporation has previously said its operating losses amounted to $10 million a day in June.

"While we are disappointed in the results, we want to thank employees for participating in the process," the postal service said in a statement on Friday, adding that it's evaluating next steps. 

The vote, which opened July 21, was administered by the Canada Industrial Relations Board, which stepped in earlier this year after federal Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu intervened in the labour dispute.

Hajdu said Friday that after 18 months of negotiations, "it was important for workers' voices to be heard."

"Federal mediators have supported parties since August 2024 and will remain available to assist the parties until they reach a deal," Hajdu said in a statement. 

"The government is monitoring this situation closely and expects the parties to reach a resolution as soon as possible."

Canada Post and the union have been at odds with one another for more than a year and a half.

Last holiday season, postal workers went on strike, leaving mail and parcels undelivered and many post offices closed.

They returned to work the week before Christmas, when the labour minister established a process with the Canada Industrial Relations Board to assess the likelihood of Canada Post and the union reaching an agreement by the end of 2024.

The board, led by Commissioner William Kaplan, eventually found that Canada Post was essentially bankrupt.

The board's final report tabled in May showed Kaplan recommended an end to daily door-to-door mail delivery and an expansion of community mailboxes, among other measures to keep the postal service in business.

He also endorsed Canada Post's model for adding part-time mail workers — one sticking point in negotiations — and largely blamed the stalled negotiations on CUPW defending "business as usual."

Dan Kelly, the president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, called Friday's results "extremely disappointing."

"This just brings more uncertainty at a time when small businesses are already struggling to plan ahead," Kelly said in a statement. 

"We can’t keep doing this. If there’s another strike, two in three businesses may walk away from Canada Post permanently."

Kelly called on the federal government to extend the current agreement for the "foreseeable future" to prevent another strike from happening.

Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck