Canada Post workers could be on the picket line or blocked by the Crown corporation as soon as Friday, after a strike and lockout notice was issued.
The Canadian Postal Workers Union issued a notice Tuesday morning that it would be in a legal strike position starting at 12:01 a.m. ET on Friday, although it did not say what the job action might look like.
“Our goal has always been to reach negotiated collective agreements that support the long-term success of our public post office, while addressing the real issues our members face every day,” CUPW National President Jan Simpson said in a statement.
Hours after the union issued the strike notice, Canada Post said it had issued a lockout notice, but added that its operations would continue.
“Canada Post has notified the union that, unless agreements are reached, the current collective agreements will no longer apply as of Friday,” spokesperson Lisa Liu said in an email. “While it is called a lockout notice, Canada Post has no intention of ceasing any of its operations at this time.”
The corporation went on to say that the notice was filed with the union and Labor Minister Steven MacKinnon and was made under the Canada Labor Code to adjust operations “based on its operational realities and business needs.”
Canadians are now facing the possibility of a looming work stoppage at Canada Post just weeks before the holiday season, but it’s not the first time Crown corporation workers have gone on strike, even as holiday shopping is underway. around the corner.
Canada Post workers began rotating strikes in October 2018, causing a backlog of undelivered mail and packages.
On November 20, 2018, the strike was approaching a month and the Crown corporation warned that parcel and mail delays could extend well into January.
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This led Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s federal government to introduce back-to-work legislation on Nov. 22, although at the time the government said it was delaying debate on the bill to give a special mediator time to resolve the dispute. labor dispute.
The pause did not last long, however, as the legislation was passed during a special session of the House of Commons on November 24. It received royal assent on 26 November and the strikes ended a day later.
That job action, according to a Canada Post report launched in 2019The corporation recorded an estimated net loss of $135 million due to the labor action.
Canada Post has faced deep fiscal challenges in recent years due to a variety of factors, including a significant drop in postal mail deliveries, and its latest annual report notes that it has posted “significant” annual losses since 2018. The year’s loss last was the second. -the largest recorded with 748 million dollars.
The postal workers returned to work and a mediator was appointed to end the dispute. Elizabeth MacPherson, former chair of the Canada Industrial Relations Board, was given 14 days to try to reach negotiated contract agreements. MacPherson finally issued a decision on collective agreements for urban and rural letter carriers in June 2020.
That year was also not the first time the federal government legislated for Canada Post workers to return to work, with Stephen Harper’s Conservative government doing the same in 2011.
Rotating strikes led to a lockout in 2011
Urban postal workers began rotating strikes on June 3, 2011, and the Crown corporation laid off its employees in mid-June.
Then-Labour Minister Lisa Raitt introduced back-to-work legislation on June 15 and, despite opposition from both the NDP and the Liberals, it eventually received royal assent, sending postal workers back to the delivery.
Canada Post said in a report that it estimated it had lost over $70 million in revenuewith the figure “increasing daily,” while the Globe and Mail reported the strike and the lockout represented a $200 million loss in revenue.
Other Canada Post strikes
While the 2011 and 2018 work stoppages are the most recent, other federal governments have also legislated to put postal workers back to work, including former prime ministers Jean Chrétien in 1997 and Brian Mulroney in 1987.
If this year’s strike or lockout takes place on Friday, the NDP has stressed it would not support back-to-work legislation. Unlike previous cases, the federal Liberal minority would need the support of at least one other party to pass any potential back-to-work legislation.
The four previous strikes occurred under majority governments.
MacKinnon, who imposed binding arbitration on Tuesday to end work stoppages at Canada’s largest ports in British Columbia and Quebec, said the federal government is providing mediation support to both sides in the Canada Post dispute.
He said the government remains hopeful that an agreement can be reached through collective bargaining.
– with files from Amanda Connolly and Katie Dangerfield of Global News and The Canadian Press
© 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
