Canada Post strike explained: What you need to know about your mail

Canada Post workers officially went connected strike Friday aft failing to scope an statement with the Crown corporation.

As workers instrumentality to the picket lines, galore Canadians whitethorn find themselves scrambling to grip vacation mail, online bid returns and seeking alternate message services.

“Some 55,000 postal workers represented by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) went connected a nationwide onslaught connected Friday, November 15 astatine 12:01am ET,” the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) said successful a connection connected Friday morning.

Canada Post released a connection aboriginal Friday morning, informing that the onslaught volition origin delays affecting millions of Canadians and businesses.

During the strike, message and parcels volition not beryllium delivered, and immoderate station offices volition beryllium closed. Canada Post added that shutting down facilities volition interaction its nationalist network, and it whitethorn instrumentality clip for message processing and transportation to instrumentality to mean erstwhile the onslaught ends.

Here is everything to cognize astir the strike.

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) described the determination to onslaught arsenic a “difficult” one, made aft much than a twelvemonth of negotiations with the employer.

According to the union, its database of demands includes wage increases aligned with inflation, enhancements to radical benefits — specified arsenic sum for fertility treatments and gender-affirming attraction — improved protections against technological changes, much paid aesculapian leave, paid repast and remainder periods and higher short-term disablement payments.

“Canada Post had the accidental to forestall this strike, but it has refused to negociate existent solutions to the issues postal workers look each day. Instead, Canada Post near america nary prime erstwhile it threatened to alteration our moving conditions and permission our members exposed to layoffs,” CUPW said successful a statement.

“Our demands are reasonable: just wages, harmless moving conditions, the close to discontinue with dignity, and the enlargement of services astatine the nationalist station office.

In an email to Global News connected Friday, a Canada Post spokesperson said it is “disappointed” with CUPW’s decision.

“Canada Post is astatine a captious juncture, losing $3 Billion since 2018 with losses continuing to mount. Even with that, Canada Post has continued to enactment guardant offers that support and heighten what’s important to our existent employees. We’ve offered competitory wage increases (11.5% implicit 4 years) and further paid leave, portion protecting their defined payment pension and occupation information provisions,” the spokesperson said.

“To assistance unafraid the aboriginal of the institution and turn our parcel business, Canada Post has enactment guardant proposals to connection seven-day-a-week parcel delivery, much competitory pricing and different important improvements. This caller transportation exemplary is indispensable for the aboriginal of the company, and captious to our quality to spend the offers.”

Back-to-work authorities is 1 of the ineligible options governments person to extremity a enactment stoppage.

The labour curate has the enactment to notation a labour quality to the Canada Industrial Relations Board and enforce binding arbitration oregon adjudication arsenic good arsenic a backmost to enactment directive, oregon to usage legislation.

“In uncommon instances, a onslaught oregon lockout whitethorn person specified a important interaction connected the nationalist involvement that back-to-work authorities oregon pre-emptive authorities is needed,” according to an Employment and Social Development Canada breakdown of the corporate bargaining process options. “Back-to-work authorities oregon peculiar authorities has ever been seen arsenic a past resort.”

The CIRB was astir precocious used erstwhile the national labour curate ordered an extremity to enactment stoppages astatine Canada’s largest ports successful British Columbia and Quebec connected Tuesday, imposing “final and binding arbitration” connected some parties and directing the committee to enactment connected settling the corporate agreement.

Canada Post is classified arsenic an indispensable service, which allows the national authorities to present authorities if it wants to successful bid to extremity a enactment stoppage. This measurement has been utilized respective times, including during the past 2 Canada Post strikes, successful 2011 and 2018.

In 2011, a postal idiosyncratic onslaught was followed by a two-week lockout imposed by Canada Post management. However, the Conservative authorities passed back-to-work authorities to extremity the disruption. Similarly, successful 2018, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s authorities passed back-to-work authorities to resoluteness different Canada Post strike.

It’s not wide if the Liberal number authorities volition beryllium capable to enforce back-to-work authorities arsenic it did with the railway shutdown successful August. As a number government, it needs the enactment of astatine slightest 1 different enactment to walk immoderate legislation.

Canada’s labour curate connected Friday said the national authorities is focused connected getting an statement astatine the bargaining table.

“I’m not looking astatine immoderate different solution different than negotiation,” Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon told reporters successful Montreal. “Right now, each time is simply a caller time successful corporate bargaining and we are going to proceed to enactment the parties successful immoderate mode we tin and marque definite they are capable to effort and get a negotiated agreement.”

The New Democratic Party antecedently said it volition not enactment a mandated extremity to the strike.

“There is not a script wherever we’ll beryllium supporting back-to-work legislation,” said Matthew Green, the NDP’s labour critic.

Mail and parcels volition not beryllium processed oregon delivered for the duration of the nationalist strike, and immoderate station offices volition beryllium closed, Canada Post said.

Service guarantees volition beryllium impacted for items already successful the postal network.

No caller items volition beryllium accepted until the nationalist disruption is over.

Some station offices are closed owed to the strike.

For much information, visit the Canada Post website oregon telephone the store directly.

Canada Post and the national person agreed to proceed delivering the adjacent circular of authorities payment cheques, specified arsenic the Canada Child Benefit, aged property information and the Canada Pension Plan, during the labour disruption.

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Service Canada has urged Canadians to acceptable up online accounts and nonstop deposits to person their benefits without delays.

A poster astatine the Canada Post determination connected Sparks Street successful Ottawa states that socio-economic cheques volition beryllium delivered connected Nov. 20.

This includes:

• Canada Pension Plan
• Old Age Security
• Veterans Affairs Pension Plan
• Canada Child Tax Benefit
• Quebec Pension Plan
• Child Assistance
• Pension Cheques (from Alberta Seniors)

Each year, Canada Post participates successful a letter-writing programme to Santa. This year, the programme runs annually from Nov. 1 done the extremity of January. According to Canada Post’s website, the deadline to person your missive earlier Christmas time is Dec. 6.

Global News reached retired to Canada Post to inquire however the onslaught mightiness interaction letters to Santa but did not person a effect by the clip of publication.

Several Canadian banks are urging customers to power to online statements and e-banking to enactment connected apical of their statements, bills and different banking communications.

For example, CIBC said customers are required to marque regular payments and conscionable fiscal obligations connected recognition cards, loans and mortgages adjacent if the postal disruption happens.

Other banks, including Bank of Montreal and Scotiabank person issued akin statements.

The workers’ onslaught is presently affecting each Canada Post workers crossed the country.

It is unclear whether definite regions volition beryllium prioritized for indispensable message delivery.

If you request to nonstop letters oregon mail, determination are alternate transportation services disposable successful Canada.

These see Purolator, FedEx, UPS, DHL and Canpar Express.

On Wednesday, a spokesperson from FedEx Canada said successful anticipation that the circumstances astatine Canada Post whitethorn trigger an summation successful request for their services, “a broad contingency program is successful spot to negociate measurement demands.”

“We inquire Canadians to program up and recognize that we whitethorn set immoderate of our home services to accommodate,” James Anderson, a FedEx Canada spokesperson, told Global News successful an emailed statement.

A UPS Canada spokesperson said: “As discussions proceed betwixt Canada Post and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW), UPS remains dedicated and prepared to service the needs of our customers.”

Purolator, which is owned by Canada Post, told Global News successful an email Friday the institution volition not grip immoderate packages post-marked oregon identified arsenic originating from Canada Post.

An idiosyncratic tiny concern that ships straight with Purolator volition inactive spot their bundle delivered.

If you’re placing an online order, support successful caput that portion Canada Post is utilized for immoderate deliveries, galore retailers specified arsenic Amazon besides trust connected their ain transportation networks.

That includes Purolator, Intercom, FedEx and DHL, according to the Amazon website.

— with files from Global News’ Craig Lord and Saba Abiz and The Canadian Press