Canada Post workers on strike in London, November 2024. Photo courtesy CUPW/Facebook.

Recently, members of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) voted overwhelmingly to ratify new collective agreements covering both urban and rural employees at Canada Post. The agreements brought to a close nearly two years of negotiations marked by unprecedented developments, strategic reversals, government intervention, and internal divisions within the union.

Few rounds of postal bargaining have unfolded in such an extraordinary fashion. From the first national full-scale strike in more than four decades to the first government-ordered ratification vote and the first public call by CUPW for binding arbitration, the 2024-26 negotiations repeatedly broke with long-established practice.

The eventual agreements ended a difficult and often frustrating process, but they also raise important questions about the future of collective bargaining at Canada Post and the direction of the union itself.

A bargaining round of firsts

The latest round of bargaining produced an extraordinary number of firsts in Canadian postal labour relations.

It was the first round of bargaining since 1981 to involve a national strike that ultimately concluded with a negotiated collective agreement. Every previous round involving strike action—in 1987, 1991, 1997, 2011 and 2018—ended with back-to-work legislation.

It was also the first time since 1981 that CUPW abandoned rotating strikes in favour of a full-scale national walkout. When postal workers went on strike in November 2024, mail already in the system was trapped in postal facilities, forcing customers to seek alternative couriers for letters and parcels.

For the first time, the federal government invoked Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code to suspend a union’s right to strike. CUPW’s collective agreements were restored, and the union was prohibited from striking between December 17, 2024, and May 22, 2025.

On May 31, 2025, CUPW also took the unprecedented step of publicly asking Canada Post to abandon negotiations and refer all outstanding issues to binding arbitration.

The government intervened again when it ordered a compulsory ratification vote on Canada Post’s offer—another first in postal bargaining.

Internal union politics also entered new territory. For the first time, one-third of CUPW’s national leadership openly campaigned against tentative agreements that had been endorsed by a majority of the National Executive Board.

Finally, the ratification vote itself proved historic. For the first time since 2000, more than 63 percent of urban members voted in favour of a negotiated agreement. In fact, support far exceeded that benchmark: 89 percent of urban members and 85.9 percent of rural members voted to ratify the agreements recommended by the majority of the National Executive Board.

Canada Post’s opening position

From the outset, it was clear negotiations would be exceptionally difficult.

Canada Post entered bargaining while reporting significant financial losses and demanding concessions that the union considered unacceptable. Management argued that high overtime costs made weekend parcel delivery increasingly uncompetitive in a rapidly changing courier market.

To address that problem, Canada Post proposed creating a new category of regular part-time weekend delivery employees. Unlike temporary workers, these employees would receive benefits, an indexed pension, job security, and a guaranteed minimum of 15 hours of work per week. Management argued the positions would provide a pathway for roughly 5,000 temporary employees who lacked pensions, benefits, guaranteed hours, and long-term job security.

CUPW rejected management’s analysis from the beginning.

The union characterized Canada Post’s financial difficulties as the product of “mismanagement” and described the corporation’s reported losses—more than $1 billion—as a “manufactured crisis.”

It also opposed the creation of the proposed weekend workforce, arguing that it would expand precarious employment and contribute to the “gigification” of postal work while reducing overtime opportunities and available hours for existing employees.

On wages, CUPW argued that substantial increases were necessary to compensate for the modest two per cent annual increases negotiated during the pandemic through a two-year extension of the previous collective agreement.

One of the most striking features of the negotiations was the extent to which both parties abandoned positions they had defended for decades.

Canada Post, acknowledging the union’s longstanding opposition to compulsory overtime, proposed eliminating the provision from the collective agreement. CUPW, without publicly explaining its reasoning, insisted on retaining it. Before the Industrial Inquiry Commission, the union even argued that it was preferable to pay existing full-time employees overtime for weekend delivery than to hire new part-time........

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