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A strike by 55,000 Canada Post workers entered its fourth week Monday, disrupting millions of parcel shipments during the busy holiday shopping season, with both sides still far apart on a deal.
The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) went on strike on November 15.
Talks are ongoing, but both Canada Post and CUPW say progress to bridge a significant gap between the two sides has been slow.
Despite growing pressure for Ottawa to step in to break the logjam, Labor Minister Steve MacKinnon has refused to intervene.
“The parties must do the work necessary to reach a deal, as Canadians are counting on them,” his spokesman Matthieu Perrotin told AFP.
Being held up are holiday gifts and cards, donations to charities and their fundraising mailouts, a bride’s wedding dress and even a father’s cremated remains, according to Canadian media.
In addition, tens of thousands of passports are stuck in transit, upending Christmas travel plans.
A handful of foreigners have also lamented being stranded in Canada as they await new travel documents.
Many small businesses have reportedly turned to alternatives such as UPS or FedEx — only to face higher costs in many instances.
In an open letter to MacKinnon, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce warned that the strike was having “considerable impacts on northern, rural and remote communities,” which largely lack private alternatives to Canada Post.
Small businesses engaged in e-commerce have also been hit hard, it said, noting that many “are counting on doing a considerable amount of business during the holiday season.”
Canada Post says it wants to hire more part-time staff to offer seven-day-a-week parcel delivery as part of a proposed turnaround.
The Crown corporation has lost more than Can$3 billion (US$2.1 billion) since 2018, and just posted a Can$315-million loss in the third quarter of 2024.
In a statement, Canada Post said it needs “to bring more flexibility to its outdated, mail-based delivery model.”
The union is seeking wage increases of up to 24 percent over four years.
Its negotiator Jim Gallant told CTV News late Friday that Canada Post was “moving in the opposite direction than we need to get to a negotiated collective agreement.”
amc/nro