Despite negotiations between Canada Post and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) hitting another snag this week, Doug Ford, president of local 564 covering Haliburton County, doesn’t believe a strike is looming.
Talks over fresh terms for approximately 55,000 unionized workers have been underway again for several weeks, Ford noted, with both sides reportedly at an impasse as of June 9. Most employees have been without a contract since Dec. 31, 2023.
Last November, around 95 per cent of CUPW members Canada-wide supported a strike as they sought higher pay, increased job security, more hours for part-time staff, and equal pay for people working similar roles. They spent 32 days on the picket line, returning to work mid-December after the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB)
mandated a temporary six-month extension.
That deal, which included a retroactive five per cent wage increase, expired May
- Most carriers currently make between $23 and $30 an hour.
Canada Post made what it called a “final offer” to the union May 28, which included a 13.59 per cent raise over four years, signing bonuses of up to $1,000, and removal of compulsory overtime. The crown corporation has also ditched proposals to change employees’ health and post-retirement benefits and pension plans.
Ford said the union is continuing to push back against Canada Post’s plans to hire a new part-time workforce to accommodate seven-day delivery.
“All that has to happen is for Canada Post to recognize they have a large workforce already that wants to keep their jobs, so they need to take the part-time stuff out of the contract and allow for people to make living wages,” Ford said. “They want to create a separate team… we already have a part-time workforce that can accommodate [the extra work].”
He said most part-time staff currently
work eight to 10 hours per week, but by
opening up weekends they could see hours
climb to 28 to 32 hours per week.
“That would create meaningful employment… it would be giving our current workers a chance to make a living
wage,” Ford said.
On June 4, federal jobs minister Patty Hajdu called for the two parties to work towards an agreement after a near two week deadlock in talks. On June 9, Canada Post rejected a framework put forward by the union asking for a binding arbitration process – where a neutral third-party offers a legally-binding solution.
The crown corporation has asked Hajdu to mandate CUPW workers vote on its latest offer.
Canada Post figureheads say the corporation’s poor financial standing limits what it can offer its employees. The
company posted pre-tax losses of $841 million in 2024 and has lost more than $3.8 billion since 2018.
Ford pinned the blame for those losses at the feet of Canada Post’s executives, not its workforce.
“Canada Post isn’t supposed to make money; it’s supposed to offer a service to Canadians. It’s losing too much money, but a lot of that is down to reckless spending,” he said, citing what he perceives to be bloated bonuses for management, and ill fated investments such as the commitment to transition its 14,000 fleet to electric vehicles by 2040.
While the union served formal notice of a strike to Canada Post May 23, Ford said that was “more of a technical thing.” He doesn’t believe the union wants to send people back to the picket line.
“There are things the union does behind the scenes in preparation for a real walkout. Those things haven’t occurred in 2025, so that tells me… they don’t want to walk out,” he said.
“The two sides are at a stalemate… this uncertainty needs to end. Right now, volumes are very low. People are afraid to put their product into our stream. If we end the uncertainty, strike a new deal, people will know they can count on Canada Post again,” Ford added.
On June 9, DHL Express Canada locked out 2,100 workers as discussions with Unifor over a new contract stalled, essentially shutting down one of the country’s largest private delivery companies.
