Jobs minister asks Canada Post, union back to the bargaining table

Jobs and Families Minister Patty Hajdu takes part in a panel during the Assembly of First Nations Special Chiefs Assembly in Ottawa on December 5, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

Federal Minister of Jobs and Families Patty Hajdu has asked Canada Post and the union representing its workers back to the bargaining table, alongside federal mediators.

In a statement Wednesday, Hajdu wrote that resuming negotiations will have two goals: To seek terms for arbitration and for the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) to respond to the postal carrier’s last global offer.

“Arbitration is not the preferred path to an agreement for either side, and each will have priorities it wants recognized,” the statement reads. “And for that reason, attempts to negotiate a settlement must continue.”

In response to the minister’s request, Canada Post said the carrier is “ready to quickly return to the table” for negotiations.

“Our goal remains to reach a timely and fair resolution that begins to respond to the significant challenges we face, helps us better serve the modern delivery needs of Canadians and respects our employees,” a Wednesday statement to CTV News reads.

Hajdu added that urgency is needed to reach a resolution.

“Federal mediators are waiting to engage with the parties,” her statement concludes.

The union formally requested binding arbitration to resolve the labour dispute late last month, while the carrier has asked Hajdu to order workers to vote on its most recent offer, authority the minister holds under the Canada Labour Code.

“After 18 months of challenging negotiations with the (CUPW), Canada Post is seeking a timely and fair resolution to restore stability to the postal system while ensuring employees have a voice in the process by allowing them to vote,” a Sunday statement from the carrier reads.

“The union’s proposal to send the matter to binding arbitration would do the opposite.”

Canada Post argued that a “long and complicated” arbitration process would prolong uncertainty in the postal system and “accelerate the company’s significant financial challenges,” noting that the union itself had rejected such measures in the past.

In response, a CUPW statement Sunday said that the carrier’s “pursuit of a government-imposed vote on its last global offers will not bring lasting labour peace between the parties, regardless of the vote’s outcome,” and that “arbitration would end the labour dispute immediately and create certainty for all Canadians.”

On Tuesday, CUPW president Jan Simpson called Canada Post’s request to Hajdu a "forced vote" that would mean “yet another heavy-handed government attack on our rights to free collective bargaining.”

Asked to confirm whether Hajdu was declining to order a vote, the minister’s office told CTV News that “the best deals are made between the two parties and we’ll continue encouraging that.”

With files from CTV National News Correspondent Abigail Bimman