After a month-long strike, thousands of Canada Post employees returned to work on Tuesday after a ruling by the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB).
Although postal operations across the country were set to resume at 8 a.m. on December 17, Canada Post asked Canadians for their patience as stabilizing operations will take time.
“Canadians should expect delivery delays through the remainder of 2024 and into January 2025,” Canada Post said on its website. “Service guarantees are suspended as the company ramps up operations.”
Meanwhile, the postal system will start accepting new international mail on December 23.
Postal services will resume on Tuesday. The Canada Industrial Relations Board has found that Canada Post and CUPW are unlikely to reach a deal by the end of the year. The Board has therefore ordered an extension of the current collective agreements, and a resumption of…
— Steven MacKinnon (@stevenmackinnon) December 16, 2024
Terms Of The Order
Negotiations between Canada Post and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) broke down over compensation, benefits and the company’s insistence upon hiring temporary workers to expand delivery service to seven days a week, leading to a strike that began on November 15, BBC reported.
Multiple Canadian promotional products firms told PPAI Media that the strike disrupted business operations, preventing them from obtaining their receivables and delaying direct mail campaigns, among other issues.
- Small businesses in Canada lost an estimated $76 million per day due to the strike, according to the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB).
Under the CIRB order, the terms of the existing collective agreements will be extended until May 2025, Global News reported.
- Canada Post will also offer a wage increase of 5% for employees, which was proposed in the company’s last offer.
- The wage hike will be retroactive to the day after each collective agreement expired, which was Dec. 31, 2023, for the rural and suburban mail carriers unit and Jan. 31, 2024, for the urban unit.
“We understand that members want to hold the line until the last minute to show our disgust with what is currently happening,” says Jan Simpson, national president of the CUPW. “Contravening this order may push the employer to go back to the CIRB for enforcement of their decision.
“All options remain under consideration to achieve negotiated collective agreements that prioritize fair wages, improved health and safety, the ability to retire with dignity and the democratic right to free collective bargaining.”
