DHL Express halts operations as anti-replacement worker bill takes effect amid strike

A DHL Express airplane stands in the hangar during the official launching ceremony of the Airbus A330-200 cargo airplane by the European Air Transport Leipzig GmbH (EAT) at the DHL's European air freight hub in Schkeuditz near Leipzig, Germany, Friday, Oct. 12, 2018. (AP Photo/Jens Meyer)

MONTREAL — DHL Express Canada shut down operations early Friday morning amid a strike and lockout, halting thousands of daily parcel deliveries across the country.

The work stoppage involving 2,100 truck drivers and other workers comes the same day that legislation banning replacement workers takes effect.

DHL has tied the shutdown to stalled negotiations with Unifor as well as the revised rules, which bar new hires from filling the role of federally regulated employees who are on strike or locked out.

The German-owned courier, whose 50,000 customers in Canada include Lululemon, Shein and Siemens, continued operations for the first dozen days of the work stoppage but began to wind down earlier this week as the legislation loomed.

Unifor president Lana Payne says the company brought in replacement workers — a claim DHL has not denied — in a move she said was legal at the time but undermining fair wages.

Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu said she met with both sides on Wednesday after DHL asked her last week to intervene in the standoff by compelling work to resume.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 20, 2025.

Christopher Reynolds, The Canadian Press