The Communist Party of Canada extends its full and active solidarity with the 55,000 postal workers on strike. We demand Canada Post put forward an offer that addresses the needs of its workers and that the federal government honour the rights of workers to strike.
With a 95 percent strike support vote from both urban and rural postal workers, CUPW members are clearly prepared to stand up against the erosion of wages that all private and public sector workers have experienced in recent years. Among their demands is the elimination of Separate Sort from Delivery (SSD), a work method that extends delivery hours and pushes workers into unsafe, isolated conditions. This method opens the door to further exploitation, allowing the employer to impose “flexible” schedules and workloads that would strip away long-fought gains in working conditions.
Canada Post, anticipating government intervention, issued a lock-out notice last week. The postal service hopes the government will force binding arbitration through the Minister of Labour’s sweeping powers under Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code. While the government has so far said it will not intervene, we have heard promises like this before they decide to intervene. This approach echoes recent actions in conflicts at CN, CPKC Rail, and the ports in Montreal and Vancouver, where the government effectively criminalized the right to strike and ignored workers’ rights. In 2016 and again in 2018, back-to-work legislation against postal workers under Harper and then Trudeau was ultimately ruled unconstitutional. Now, rather than enacting direct legislation, the government’s use of Section 107 represents a renewed and insidious attack on labour rights nationwide, further undermining the bargaining power of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) and rewarding Canada Post’s months of bad faith bargaining. Bad faith bargaining is supposed to be illegal in Canada.
Adding insult to injury, Canada Post’s latest wage offer of 11.5 percent over four years fails to keep pace with inflation, which reached 8 percent in 2022 alone. The price of food, fuel and rent and other basic necessities have increased well beyond the rate of inflation. After years of stagnant wages and erosion of benefits since the Harper era, anger among postal workers is understandable and justified. Canada Post’s claim of a $3 billion loss since 2018 is deceptive: this figure reflects investments in new sorting facilities, vehicles, and technology. Yet, Canada Post maintains it cannot afford a living wage for its workers, let alone secure them a dignified retirement.
Furthermore, Canada Post’s manufactured “crisis” seems aimed at justifying government intervention. Much of its business has been redirected to Purolator, a subsidiary, allowing profits to flow while Canada Post feigns financial struggle. This tactic benefits corporate interests while undercutting public services and providing cover for privatization.
This struggle is about more than postal workers. As e-commerce drives demand for package delivery, private corporations like Amazon, UPS, DHL, and eBay are allowed to profit while public postal services face cuts. A true public monopoly on package delivery would bolster public services and ensure fair wages, yet Canada Post management and the government have colluded with major corporations in a gradual move toward privatization.
The Communist Party condemns the media’s coverage of the strike. The corporate media and even Canada’s public broadcasters have engaged in a propaganda offensive on behalf of Canada Post. News coverage paints the union and the workers as being out to cancel Christmas, ignoring the fact that workers have been forced out due to Canada Post’s attacks on workers and the government’s enabling of bad faith bargaining.
The Communist Party of Canada calls on all labour and democratic movements to mobilize in solidarity with postal workers. The fight to ensure the Trudeau government ends its draconian use of Section 107 is a fight for the entire labour movement. Together, we must defend public services, push back against creeping privatization, and protect the living standards and rights of all workers. The future of Canada’s postal service—and the conditions of all workers—hinges on this vital struggle.
Central Executive Committee, Communist Party of Canada