Canada Post workers went on strike early Friday after failing to reach a negotiated agreement with their employer.
The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) says approximately 55,000 are striking, claiming little progress has been made in the bargaining process.
“Canada Post had the opportunity to prevent this strike, but it has refused to negotiate real solutions to the issues postal workers face every day,” said a statement from the union.
“Instead, Canada Post left us no choice when it threatened to change our working conditions and leave our members exposed to layoffs.”
The strike action comes ahead of Black Friday and the beginning of the holiday season, when Canadians rely on the postal service to send and receive gifts, packages and cards.
Canada Post said in a statement early Friday that its operations will shut down, affecting millions of Canadians and businesses.
Mail and parcels, the Crown corporation said, will not be processed or delivered during the strike, and some post offices will be closed. Service guarantees will be affected for items already in the postal network and no new items will be accepted.
Once operations resume, the corporation said, mail and parcels will be delivered on a first-come, first-serve basis, but “a national strike of any length will impact service to Canadians well after the strike activity ends.”
Workers gave Canada Post 72-hour notice on Tuesday, as the Crown corporation warned that a potential strike would further impact its already dire financial situation.
Canada Post served the union with a lockout notice not long after, but said it didn’t intend to lock workers out.
CUPW was in a legal strike position as of Nov. 3, after a legally mandated cooling-off period. In a vote last month, more than 95 per cent of both urban and rural workers backed a strike mandate, the union has said.
Canada Post’s latest contract offer included annual wage increases that amounted to 11.5 per cent over four years. It also offered protection of the defined benefit pension for current employees, as well as job security and health benefits.
CUPW said that wasn’t enough and that the two parties remain far apart on several issues.
“Our demands are reasonable: fair wages, safe working conditions, the right to retire with dignity, and the expansion of services at the public post office,” it said in its statement.
In a post on social media platform X Thursday evening prior to the strike announcement, federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon said federal mediators have been working with the union and the Crown corporation, and a special mediator has been appointed to support the two sides.
“We are making sure that these two groups have everything they need to reach a deal.”
Teamsters Canada has said its members at Purolator won’t handle any packages postmarked or identified as originating from Canada Post.
Spokesman Christopher Monette said in an email ahead of the strike announcement that the CUPW has the Teamsters’ full support, and that they believe good union jobs are essential pillars of Canadian society.