Canada Post and the union representing workers reach a temporary agreement, agreeing not to strike
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Canada Post and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) say they have reached a tentative agreement.
The agreements announced Monday cover both urban postal operations and rural and suburban mail carrier bargaining units.
CUPW’s national board recommends members accept the deals during ratification votes expected to take place in early 2026.
Canada Post said the deals include a 6.5 per cent pay increase in the first year, followed by a three per cent increase in the second year and increases commensurate with the annual inflation rate over years 3 to 5. These also include increased benefits and a weekend parcel delivery model. Both the agreements will remain effective till January 31, 2029.
CUPW national president John Simpson said: “These results demonstrate the strength and solidarity of postal workers.”
“Facing extraordinary challenges, we stood together, achieved meaningful reforms, and advanced critical rollbacks.”
Monday’s announcement comes after Canada Post and CUPW announced an agreement in principle in November. While at the time the union retained the right to strike, the union and the Crown corporation now say they have agreed that strike or lockout action will not take place during the ratification process.
According to Canada Post, as part of this next phase, the parties have “finalized the contractual language” for the new collective agreement.
Canada Post and the union representing thousands of postal workers say they have reached an agreement in principle. Although he hasn’t seen the details of the tentative deal, Mark Lubinski, president of the Toronto local of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, says he’s ‘optimistic’ and ‘confident’ the agreements are something members can approve.
If the agreements are finalized in the new year, it would end more than two years of labor conflict between the ailing Crown corporation and its largest union, which represents about 55,000 workers. The two sides have debated wages and structural changes to the Postal Service’s workforce, including proposals to add more part-time employees and expand delivery seven days a week.
Postal workers have staged strikes on several occasions during the bargaining process, including a pre-holiday strike last year that disrupted parcel deliveries during the peak season.
Canada Post has been in serious financial trouble for years. Its most recent quarterly report in November included a pre-tax loss of $541 million, the largest in its historyIt received a $1 billion federal loan in January that was to be repaid by next March, but the carrier now expects to close by the end of the year,
