Canada Post hits pause on negotiations with union as May deadline nears

A Canada Post employee drives a mail truck at a delivery depot in Vancouver, B.C., Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Workers at Canada Post could be heading back to the picket lines in a matter of days — but a labour expert warns postal workers might find negotiating conditions far less favourable now than they were during their holiday job action.

Canada Post said late Tuesday it was hitting pause on negotiations with the Canadian Union of Postal Workers after days of talks between the parties bore little fruit.

This temporary pause will allow the postal service to come back to the table with “comprehensive proposals” that it hopes can move discussions forward, the Crown corporation said.

The union shot back, calling the pause a “tactic” and noting there’s timeline for presenting these new proposals.

“Given the seriousness of the matter, it is reprehensible to keep workers and the public on edge when we should all be focused on negotiating good collective agreements that will benefit workers and grow our public service to meet the needs of all Canadians,” CUPW said in a media statement.

Ottawa asked the federal labour board to send workers back on the job in December when talks were at an impasse and a strike was disrupting holiday mail deliveries.

That reprieve expires on May 22, at which point a renewed labour dispute could again bring Canadians’ mail service to a halt.

Canada Post said any proposals will reflect the significant financial challenges that are putting the postal service’s future in jeopardy.

Thursday is the deadline for a commission set up in December to probe the viability of Canada Post to file its report.

Stephanie Ross, associate professor in the school of labour studies at McMaster University, said that depending on what commissioner William Kaplan concludes, the report could lend credence to Canada Post’s claim that its financial situation limits what it can offer the union.

One of the outstanding issues is a push from Canada Post to add weekend delivery — a move the union fears could undermine full-time workers’ job protections if the postal service turns to part-time or gig workers to staff the expanded model.

It’s likely in Canada Post’s interest to “pause” negotiations, she said, because the report could backup the Crown corporation’s claim that it’s pursuing the most viable path to staying afloat.

The holiday season gave the union plenty of bargaining power because Canadians’ holiday cards and gifts were being caught up in the postal backlog, Ross said.

“May is not that time of year,” she said.

“The volume of activity is not the same, and the attention paid to it by Canadians is not going to be the same.”

The economic context has also completely changed, Ross added.

In late 2024, CUPW was catching the “tail end of a strike wave” that saw unions across the country taking advantage of strengthening economic conditions to bid up wages — in part to help their workers catch up on years of buying power lost to surging inflation.

Now, with tariff threats from the United States and a rising unemployment rate, those circumstances are less rosy, Ross said, and the public’s sympathy for workers and patience for disruption may have waned.

“The conditions for a labour dispute to be settled in the favour of workers, it’s not so clear cut,” she said.

When Prime Minister Mark Carney unveiled his new cabinet on Tuesday, there was no portfolio for labour — only a minister of jobs and families, a role filled by Patty Hajdu. There is a secretary of state for labour, a more junior position that is not a full member of cabinet.

Union leaders and opposition MPs have sharply criticized the government for failing to appoint a labour minister.

While Ross emphasized that it’s still early days for the Carney government, she said the absence of a labour minister might signal that this government places less emphasis “on relationships with the labour movement” than the previous government.

“Jobs and labour are not exactly the same,” she said. “I think that it is troubling. I don’t think it’s a good sign.”

With files from Catherine Morrison

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 14, 2025