After more than six months of difficult and frustrating negotiations we need to send Canada Post management a strong message. “Address the Union’s proposals for equality, job security, improvements, full-time jobs and healthy working conditions and drop your demands for rollbacks. And do it now!” This strike vote is about the future – our future. At stake are our pensions, wages, benefits and working conditions for years to come. This is our opportunity to tell the employer where we stand and that we deserve better.
Bloodied, but unbowed, CUPW members from coast to coast to coast are feeling the impact of postal transformation and Canada Post’s cuts. Perspective asked activists in every Region about their experience in the workplace. Here’s what they had to say:
Volume 41, Number 4, November 2013 - Postal unions and groups stood before a giant piggy bank emblazoned with the words “Banking on a Future for Canada Post” and called for financial and banking services at post offices during a media conference on October 16th.
(Volume 41, Number 3, August 2013) People like the idea of Canada Post making money through financial services according to a poll commissioned by CUPW. Close to two out of every three respondents (63%) to a Stratcom poll supported Canada Post expanding revenue-generating services, including financial services like bill payments, insurance and banking.
Our union must be an active and strong force in shaping the direction of the postal service and the political context in which we work. This publication contains an overview of the work we need to do on important issues like the attack on the Rand formula, Postal Transformation, the Canadian Postal Service Charter, service expansion and reduction at Canada Post and the federal election. These inter-related issues affect our jobs, our communities and the public postal service. We need to work toward a future where our rights are respected, workers are treated with dignity and respect, and public services are valued and strengthened. We encourage every member to get involved in these campaigns.
Support Postal Banking - Download and Sign the Petition
Canada needs a postal bank. Thousands of rural towns and villages in our country do not have a bank, but many of them have a post office that could provide financial services. As well, nearly two million Canadians desperately need an alternative to payday lenders. A postal bank could be that alternative. Download and sign the petition urging the Government of Canada to instruct Canada Post to add postal banking, with a mandate for financial inclusion.
Fact Sheet Available Online -
Now that the extension of our collective agreements has expired, we have started a nationwide overtime ban, and Canada Post has pushed for a forced vote on its “best and final offers,” it is important to remind ourselves of some of the major issues at stake right now.
On May 30, Canada Post sent a letter to Minister Patty Hajdu, responsible for Jobs and Families, asking her to use her power under section 108.1 of the Canada Labour Code to force a vote on the Employer’s latest offers for both bargaining units.
June 21, National Indigenous Peoples Day, we honour the histories, cultures, resistance, and ongoing contributions of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Peoples across Turtle Island. This is a day to celebrate Indigenous resurgence and to reflect on the responsibilities we all carry as people living and working on Indigenous lands.
Today, May 30, CUPW met with Patty Hajdu, Minister of Jobs and Families, and John Zerucelli, Secretary of State for Labour. It was our second meeting with them since they were appointed to their positions after the federal election.
At the meeting, we shared our thoughts and concerns about negotiations and the recent global offers from Canada Post. We were assured that the Minister would continue to play an intermediary role in the bargaining process but will not intervene at this time.
Media Advisory -
OTTAWA - Canada Post’s plan will result in sweeping changes to our public postal system’s regulatory framework. The Corporation’s most recent contract offers to CUPW don’t drop its proposed rollbacks. When combined, this is sure to result in service and job cuts.
Wildfire season is early again this year. Fires are already raging in the northern part of the Prairies, in some Eastern provinces and in more isolated locations across the country. This is simply a reminder that we need to be ready to respond when such a situation arises again this year. In fact, some communities in Manitoba have received evacuation notices, and it is very likely that others will have to be evacuated over the coming weeks. In some part of Canada, the winter was mild with very little precipitation, increasing the risk of outbreaks. Therefore, we must once again be vigilant and ready to take the necessary measures to ensure everyone’s safety.
On May 28, Canada Post released its annual report for 2024. The Corporation posted a loss before tax of $841 million, continuing a pattern of financial losses since 2018. Canada Post puts the blame for the scale of its losses to several factors
Today, May 28, Canada Post presented what it calls its “best and final” offers for both the RSMC and Urban bargaining units.
While Canada Post insists that its offers reflect the Union’s demands from our May 25 proposal, there are almost no changes from what the Employer put forward on May 21. There's no question: Canada Post is not negotiating. Canada Post is playing hardball.
Application deadline: June 30, 2025 - On the fifth anniversary of the passing of Sister Megan Whitfield, CUPW is honoured to offer the Megan Whitfield bursary, two financial awards to encourage aspiring trade union activists to continue the important work Sister Whitfield started before her life was cut short.
The Union has now heard back from Canada Post through the federal mediators. The Employer has proposed to return to the bargaining table Wednesday (May 28) to provide the Union with a response to our latest proposals.