Canada Post has resumed operations nationwide following the Canadian Union of Postal Workers’ (CUPW) national strike, but the union’s shift to rotating strikes is expected to cause ongoing delivery disruptions across the country.
As of Oct. 14, rotating strikes were underway in Dawson Creek and Fort St. John, B.C., as well as St. Anthony, N.L. The union’s strike activity has ended in Timmins, Ont.
Mail and parcels will not be delivered or picked up in communities where rotating strikes are taking place. Canada Post says service will resume “as quickly as possible” once the strikes in each location end. Both Canada Post and CUPW are posting updates on their respective websites, with CUPW listing strike locations as they occur. Customers are being advised to expect delays and to visit canadapost.ca/negotiations for the latest information.
The Crown corporation confirmed that induction for commercial customers will begin tomorrow, but all service guarantees remain suspended. “Shutting down and restarting parts of our integrated national network with rotating strikes challenges our ability to provide reliable service,” the postal service said in a statement.
Canada Post also said it is waiting for a response from CUPW regarding its latest “global offers,” tabled Oct. 3. The corporation said the proposals are designed to be “affordable and treat employees with fairness and respect given the challenges facing the Corporation.”
Canada Post emphasized that only new collective agreements will provide the stability Canadians require to confidently use the postal system. “The need to align the business to the current needs of the country, and to reduce dependency on taxpayer dollars, grows more urgent each day this strike continues,” the statement added.