CUP-W workers are back on strike

The Independent

The federal government is directing Canada Post to end door-to-door mail delivery and start restructuring the postal service, including closing rural post offices.

The move has sparked local concern and it appears a strike at Canada Post – which has been hold for some time – will be back on Friday as CUP-W worries about job losses.

Joël Lightbound, Minister of Government Transformation, issued a statement Thursday saying Canada Post is “facing an existential crisis” hemmoraging over $5 billion since 2018. It’s projected to lose $1.5 billion despite a $1 billion bail out earlier this year.

Lightbound’s statement says the post office used to deliver 5.5 billion pieces of mail a year; now its two billion. And Canada Post has only 24 per cent of the parcel delivery service in the country, down from 64 per cent in 2019.

So, the minister has authorized Canada Post to stop door-to-door mail service, setting up community mail boxes instead.

He’s also looking for a restructuring plan from the corporation, saying it can now close rural post offices. In 1994, the government put a moratorium on 4,000 postal locations. Government officials say the intention is to close locations in areas that are over served but to maintain rural and remote post offices.

“This situation is unsustainable. Canada Post is effectively insolvent, and repeated bailouts are not a long-term solution. Transformation is required to ensure the survival of Canada Post,” he said in a statement.

Canada Post President and CEO Doug Ettinger says the move “will allow us to make the changes needed to restore Canada’s postal service for all Canadians by evolving to better meet their needs.

“We take this responsibility seriously and will work closely with the government and our employees to move with urgency and implement the necessary changes in a thoughtful manner. Our goal is to ensure that a strong, affordable, Canadian-made, Canadian-run delivery provider supports the needs of today’s economy and delivers to every community across the country,” he says in a statement online.

There were immediate repercussions. Jim Gallant, a negotiator with CUP-W, told David Common on CBC’s Power and Politics, the on-again, off-again strike are back on strike. Some workers on the east coast of the country have walked off the job immediately. A banner on CUP-W’s website announces the return to the picket line..

CUP-W has been negotiation with Canada Post since Nov. 2023. November 15, 2024 workers across the country walked off the job. The action was suspended December 17. The feds appointed William Kaplan of Industrial Inquiry Commission to look into the issues. His report forms the basis for some of the changes announced today.

In Brooke-Alvinston, concerns about the coming changes were briefly discussed at council as members of council wondered what the changes mean for rural Ontario. Mayor Dave Ferguson expressed some concern saying if rural delivery is ended, community mail boxes will begin popping up on county roads.