Minister wants Canada Post, union back at table to talk arbitration

Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu says she’s asked Canada Post and the union representing its postal workers to return to the negotiating table.

In a post on X, Hajdu stated she had requested the two parties to return and work with federal mediators on negotiating terms for an arbitration process to conclude this round of bargaining and to have the union table its response to the Crown corporation’s most recent offers.

“Arbitration is not the preferred path to an agreement for either side, and each will have priorities it wants recognized,” Hajdu wrote. “For that reason, attempts to negotiate a settlement must continue. Canadians expect the parties to resolve this dispute one way or another.”

The minister’s call for a return to talks comes just three days after Canada Post rejected the union’s request for binding arbitration, saying it would be “long and complicated.”

On Sunday, the Crown corporation said it was seeking a “timely and fair resolution” that would ensure employees would “have a voice” through a vote.

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) made the request on Saturday, a day after Canada Post asked Hajdu to direct the postal workers’ union to hold a vote on the “final offers” the national mail carrier presented last week.

The Crown corporation had said in asking for the vote that it was not possible to reach tentative agreements through negotiations “given the level of impasse and CUPW’s negotiating position.”

The request was made the same day the union was meeting with Hajdu and Secretary of State for Labour John Zerucelli.

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In a statement Tuesday, the union said they stood “solidly” against a “forced vote,” adding that when they received the request for the vote Friday they were given until Monday to review and provide a response.

However, they said they were granted an extension and had until Wednesday for an official response.

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In a statement to Global News, Canada Post said it had received Hajdu’s request and was “ready to quickly return” to the table to engage with CUPW, adding its preferred path remains through a negotiated settlement.

“After 18 months at an impasse, all options must be considered to address these critical priorities, including an employee directed vote,” Canada Post said.

CUPW said in a statement to Global News it welcomed the minister’s “recognition that negotiated settlements are best.”

“CUPW remains committed to securing fair collective agreements to protect our members’ rights, improve working conditions and ensure quality public postal service for all Canadians,” the union wrote.

The union and Canada Post have been trying to negotiate a new contract for more than 18 months. There was also a month-long strike last year.

That strike ended when then-labour minister Steven MacKinnon asked the Canada Industrial Relations Board to order workers back on the job if it agreed with his determination that there was an impasse in negotiations.

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MacKinnon had also ordered an industrial inquiry commission to review the structural issues of the dispute, which were laid out in a report released last month that made several recommendations, including phasing out door-to-door letter delivery for individual addresses.

Canada Post is “facing an existential crisis: It is effectively insolvent, or bankrupt,” the report from the Industrial Inquiry Commission said.

The Crown corporation earlier this week posted a nearly $1.3-billion operating loss for 2024, while revenues fell by $800 million, or 12.2 per cent, compared with 2023.

Last year’s strike contributed to a “net negative impact of $208 million” towards Canada Post’s $841-million loss before tax, the latest annual report said.

When the corporation presented its offers on Wednesday, it said in a news release that the final offers were “designed to move negotiations forward and return certainty and stability to customers, Canada Post’s employees, and all Canadians.”

–With files from Global News’ Sean Boynton and Uday Rana