Canada Post employees ordered back to work Tuesday, ending a month-long strike

“As a result, the CIRB has ordered employees to return to work and postal operations to begin to resume at 8 a.m. local time on Dec. 17,” the release said. “We will share further details shortly, but want to remind employees and customers that our operations will remain closed on Dec. 16.” Nathalie Sturgeon, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

By Nathalie Sturgeon, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Saint Croix Courier

December 16, 2024

Canada Post workers will return to work on Tuesday following a decision from the Canada Industrial Relations Board. 

According to a release from Canada Post, after two days of hearings, the CIRB issued a ruling confirming the parties are at an impasse. 

“As a result, the CIRB has ordered employees to return to work and postal operations to begin to resume at 8 a.m. local time on Dec. 17,” the release said. “We will share further details shortly, but want to remind employees and customers that our operations will remain closed on Dec. 16.” 

Canada Post said it looks forward to welcoming the employees back to work, “serving the millions of Canadians and businesses who rely on our services.” 

It said while the terms of the existing collective agreement extends until March 2025, it will put forward an offer to implement a wage increase of five per cent for employees, which “was proposed in the company’s last global offer.” 

“With both parties in agreement, the wage increase will be retroactive to the day after each collective agreement expires. The increase will be in effect going forward, and the retroactive portion will be paid out to current employees,” it said in the release. 

Regular full-time and part-time employees will get an upfront payment of $1000 before Christmas and $500 for temporary employees based on a minimum number of hours, the Crown corporation said, with the remainder of the retroactive pay to be given by the end of January. 

It said in the release that its commitment has always been to reach negotiated agreements with the Canadian Union of Postal Workers that would help it better serve the changing needs of Canadians and provide good jobs to those who provide the service. 

CUPW responds to the minister

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers said in a release on Dec. 13 that it denounces the decision to send the strike to CIRB. 

“We denounce in the strongest terms this assault on our constitutionally protected right to free and fair collective bargain and our right to strike,” it said in the release. “This order continues a deeply troubling pattern in which successive federal governments have used back-to-work legislation or, in this case, its arbitrary powers to let employers off the hook from bargaining in good faith.”

It described the decision by Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon as an abuse of power. It questioned the timing of the decision as well, claiming Canada Post has had the union offer for the last five days without a response. 

“We will continue to fight for fair wages, safe working conditions and to retire with dignity. We have been pushing Canada Post for years to expand services to generate more revenue,” it said in the release. “We must stand strong in the face of this abuse of power.”

There has been no response to the decision by the CIRB by the union yet.

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