Workers at Canada Post Are On Strike. Here’s What Postal Workers Are Fighting For.

Wondering why you haven’t received that package you were waiting for?

Postal workers across the country are currently striking for better wages, protection of their pensions and to address health and safety concerns on the job.

55,000 members of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers have been on a massive nationwide strike since Friday after negotiations at the bargaining table stalled with their employer Canada Post.

Here’s why postal workers are pushing back against Canada Post’s “race to the bottom,” and refusal to negotiate in good faith.

How did Canada end up in a nationwide postal strike?

According to CUPW National President Jan Simspon, the union first started bargaining with the employer a year ago in November of 2023, before their collective agreement expired.

“We were (wanting) to avoid this kind of issue. We were hoping we wouldn’t still be bargaining now but we still have really seen any movement at the bargaining table,” Simpson told PressProgress.

After CUPW issued a strike notice, Simpson says Canada Post issued a lockout notice as well.

“And on the day of our possible strike Canada, Post changed our working conditions. For example, they took away our benefits, we no longer had wages, people who are on short term disability, those benefits were cancelled for them as well,” Simpson said. “That pushed us to a full-on strike.”

Photo: Rumneek Johal (PressProgress)

What are CUPW postal workers fighting for?

Stagnating wages, particularly after the pandemic, are one reason workers are on strike, said Colleen Dzogan, one CUPW member who was on the picket line in Maple Ridge.

“Wages are a big issue,” Dzogan told PressProgress. “I know multiple people who work more than one job just to make ends meet. So working full-time and not being able to afford just your rent, your groceries, that kind of thing.”

“As a full-time worker, we should be able to support ourselves.”

Pensions are another big issue of concern for postal workers, who are not on board with the employer’s proposal to move from a defined benefit pension plan to a defined contribution plan.

A defined benefit pension provides guaranteed income, whereas a defined contribution plan is funded primarily by the worker.

“We can’t just sell out the new workers coming in. We got to take care of them too because we have the things that we do have because other people stood up for us,” Dzogan said.

“There’s other unions that are going to be striking soon. So if we protect our rights, if we look out for our people, it helps them.”

How is Canada Post responding to the strike?

Canada Post’s public statement regarding the strike frames the CUPW’s decision to take job action as the reason for service delays.

However, Simpson says bargaining has been difficult, with the employer “saying no to everything.”

“We are not about a race to the bottom,” Simpson said. “Canada Post is Crown Corporation and they should be trying to lift everybody up.”

“For us in negotiations, we thought it would be done a long time ago, but Canada Post has dragged this out for quite a while and now it’s impacting the Canadian public.”

Simpson says that in many recent job actions, employers’ refusal to negotiate stems from the hope that the government will intervene and legislate workers back to work.

“They are not negotiating in good faith. Workers have finally exercised their power by saying enough is enough,” Simpson said.

“They just want to come to work and to be able to retire with dignity. They love their customers and they love the work they do.”

Photo: Rumneek Johal (PressProgress)

How is the public reacting?

Despite being on strike, postal workers recognize their services are essential to Canadians.

For example, postal workers are going out of their way to make sure social assistance checks are delivered to those who depend on social assistance, with many workers temporarily leaving the pickets and volunteering to deliver checks to the public on their own time.

Dzogan was one of those volunteers.

“People were stopping me to just say thank you so much because as much as we’re striking, we don’t want the people who rely on our services to suffer,” Dzogan said. “It’s nice to know what we do on a daily basis. Really matters to people

Workers on the pickets add that “morale is high” and they are receiving lots of support from the public.

“If we don’t stand up for our rights, then it trickles down, so we want to raise that bar for everyone.”