Canada Post employees gathered at rallies in 13 cities across the country on Saturday to highlight the ongoing labour dispute between their union and employer and stir up support for the workers at the centre of the dispute.
The rallies were organized by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, whose 55,000 members have been embroiled in testy contract negotiations with the Crown corporation for months. The dispute triggered a month-long strike last year, and union members are currently banned from working overtime amid talks that appear to have bogged down.
Basia Sokal, a letter carrier from Nova Scotia's Annapolis Valley who joined a few dozen others at an event in downtown Halifax, described Canada Post's treatment of its roughly 55,000 unionized workers as shameful.
"They are dragging this out and they are trying to kill an important public service," she said Saturday, adding that she believes Canada Post aims to push for further service and job cuts.
"In the 16 years that I’ve been doing this job from different province to different province, it has only gotten worse," she said.
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Sokal urged attendees to call their member of Parliament to voice their support for the workers. She also said it's important as the labour dispute continues to remember that postal workers are integral parts of their communities who often contribute well beyond delivering mail and parcels.
"We are the people that find lost pets. We’re the people that call 911 when a neighbour’s house is on fire. We give directions when people pull us over because they’re trying to find the hospital. We’re a public service," she said.
Saturday's rallies, taking place in cities including Brampton, Ont., Edmonton and Vancouver, come amid escalating tensions between the two sides and what Canada Post has described as an impasse in efforts to reach a new collective agreement.
The union issued a statement Saturday saying it was inviting Canada Post to a fair, final and binding arbitration process to resolve the ongoing dispute.
Canada Post presented what it called its "final offers" to the union on Wednesday, with concessions including an end to compulsory overtime and a signing bonus of up to $1,000.
But it stuck to a proposal for a 14 per cent cumulative wage hike over four years and part-time staff on weekend shifts, a major sticking point in the talks.
Canada Post said the two sides are at loggerheads after months of conciliation and mediation and has asked Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu to force a union membership vote on its latest proposals.
The union has been in a legal strike position as of May 23, but so far has opted to ban members from working overtime instead.
The Crown corporation said this week it logged nearly $1.3 billion in operating losses last year, raising further questions about its business model as letter volumes plunge.
An annual report released earlier this week said a month-long strike last fall stemming from the same contract negotiations cost the organization $208 million.
The Canadian Union of Postal Workers took to the picket lines for 32 days in late 2024, snarling mail delivery over the busy holiday shopping season.
— With files from Christopher Reynolds in Montreal
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 31, 2025.
