Sunday May 25 2025 | NATIONAL NEWS – from VICTORIA, BC
Business & political analysis by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
Wow, it took this long for Canada Post and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) to realize that putting adversaries with intense views into the same room was part of the problem.
A resolution is what everyone seeks — including businesses and the public who rely on Canada Post services to be available and reliable.
Today CUPW announced that their union negotiators and the National Executive Board spent the last few days, and nights, reviewing the Employer’s last offers and preparing responses to issues in the offers and issues important to the Union that the Employer failed to acknowledge.
They said today — the third day of a nationwide overtime ban — that the parties met with Federal Mediation and Conciliation Services near Ottawa, including:
- “At 9:30 a.m., the Union provided our concepts and details to the mediators, and they presented the positions to Canada Post.”
- “Not meeting face-to-face and the mediators moving between the parties is a method used by experienced mediators to remove the opposing personalities and animosity from the interaction.”
All of this was done through the standard process in mediation called the integrative approach.
- Documents and ideas exchanged during the integrative approach are confidential and cannot be used against that party at any subsequent arbitration or any other legal proceeding.
- This privacy allows both parties to talk about issues they may not otherwise entertain.
Issues that were discussed — according to the May 25, 2025 CUPW news release — included wages, cost of living allowance, sick days, STDP, workers compensation, compensatory time, relief staff, staffing, contracting out, weekend delivery, and part-time usage.
Hoping for speedy review by Canada Post:
At 12:50 p.m., the Union was informed that the Employer had left the facility to review the documents and we were told they may respond within a few days. We would hope the Corporation is back to us as soon as possible.
The nationwide overtime ban remains in effect while talks continue.
When there is a strike, rural areas and residential areas that receive door-to-door mail services are greatly impacted, as well as small businesses that rely on parcel deliveries by Canada Post due to their reach and tracking system.
Clearly, a reshaping of the postal delivery system is part of recognizing how cities are growing as well, where the use of community mailboxes makes more financial sense for Canada Post compared to the door-to-door delivery model that harkens back to the mid 20th century when nearly everyone had a standalone home address.
No government redirection so far:
To this point, there has been no federal government comment as to the future of how Canada Post serves Canadians and businesses in this country. That would include the mandate of having an infrastructure that reaches every address in the country.
Meanwhile, last week Patty Hajdu, Minister of Jobs and Families and Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario, did urge the union to make progress.
In a statement on May 16, 2025 Hajdu said that “it’s time for everyone to put aside their differences, focus on shared goals, and ensure a strong postal system now and into the future”. She thanked the Commissioner for a detailed report issued on May 15, 2025 with recommendations “on how new collective bargaining agreements can be reached”.
Obviously the postal worker union aims to protect the jobs of its members. But the expectation of lifelong ironclad protection (including full-time work, unshakeable job security and guaranteed pension) is a luxury that few other people have in this day and age.
As the Liberal government continues to reshape the Canadian economy (for more productivity and investment), revisions made by or for the Canada Post Corporation could well set a new model for job security in the future. [See Carney announcement about his mandate letter to cabinet ministers]
Back in 2018, then as Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour, she expressed exasperation at the two sides not finding a resolution and the workers were legislated back to work.
===== RELATED:
- Canada Post workers still on the job with overtime ban (May 23, 2025)
- Canada Post’s new offer to postal workers union could avert strike (May 21, 2025)
- Carney’s mandate letter to cabinet addresses economy and security (May 21, 2025)
- Canada Post workers strike set to begin on May 23 (May 20, 2025)
- Canada Post needs revamp but commissioner’s recommendations fall short (May 19, 2025)
- Canada Post pauses negotiations before possible postal worker strike (May 14, 2025)
- Carney combines experience and new ideas in first full cabinet (May 13, 2025)
- Breakdown of Canada Post mediated talks with postal workers (March 2, 2025)
- Canada Post parcel invoice system upgrade (February 13, 2025)
- Quietly stabilizing Canada Post with a $1.034 billion loan (January 24, 2025)
- Jan 13: Canada Post letter mail & parcel prices up (January 14, 2025)
- Canada Post domestic parcel service now fully restored (January 7, 2025)
- Canada Post service resumes Dec 17 with workers back on the job (December 17, 2024)
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