Canada Post requests union-represented employees vote on corporation’s final offers

Canada Post is asking for the federal government to intervene and direct a vote among the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) on the Crown corporation’s latest offers.

“After more than 18 months of collective bargaining, we believe the best hope of achieving freely negotiated collective agreements is an employee vote administered by the CIRB (Canada Industrial Relations Board) under section 108.1 of the Canada Labour Code,” stated the corporation.

“In these circumstances, employees in each bargaining unit would have the opportunity to voice their decision by voting on Canada Post’s final offers.”

Canada Post sent its “final offers” to CUPW on May 28, to which the union stated that there were almost no changes from what the employer put forward on May 21.

“There's no question: Canada Post is not negotiating. Canada Post is playing hardball,” wrote the union on May 28, adding that Canada Post “ignored” their positions on some "big issues."

The union then announced that it was to meet with Patty Hajdu, minister of jobs and families and John Zerucelli, secretary of state for labour on Friday. CUPW has not announced how the meeting went.

“The impasse and CUPW’s strike activity have had a significant impact on the country, the corporation and our employees. The impact of the 32-day strike at the end of 2024 on small businesses, charities and rural and remote communities has been well documented,” wrote Canada Post.

“For the corporation, it’s estimated (that) the labour disruption contributed a net negative impact of $208 million toward its $841-million loss before tax in 2024. The company’s business has continued to drop significantly since CUPW resumed strike activity in May 2025, with our parcel business already down by two-thirds compared to this time last year.”

When CUPW received Canada Post’s offers on May 21, the union had already served strike notice for May 23, and so, the union proposed a two-week truce to allow CUPW to review the offers and negotiate without labour disruption, but the Crown corporation turned down the offer and CUPW began an overtime ban on May 23.

“The seven recommendations contained in the IIC’s (the Industrial Inquiry Commission) final report chart a path to a negotiated resolution that allows Canada Post to meet the needs of Canadians and businesses in today’s economy, help address the company’s financial sustainability and maintain good jobs,” added the Crown corporation.

“Canada Post’s final offers reflect these recommendations entirely. We have also made key concessions in a serious attempt to reach new collective agreements.”

The corporation added that CUPW remains at odds with the findings of the ICC and recently retracted its tentative agreement on key issues reached earlier this week.

For now, Canada Post will wait and see if the federal government directs a vote to take place.