What happens when Canada Post reopens?

As Canada Post employees are set to return to work on Tuesday, the postal service says it will begin “ramping up and stabilizing operations across the country.”

Canada Post announced late last week that 55,000 workers across Canada would return to the job at 8am local time on December 17, ending a strike that began on November 15.

In a Monday press release, the company explained what Canadians can expect once operations resume.

“With a large, integrated network of processing plants, depots and post offices, stabilizing operations will take time and the company asks Canadians for their patience,” the press release states.

Canada Post said staff will start working through mail and parcels trapped in the postal system since the strike began, on “a first-in, first-out basis.” New mail will not be accepted until Thursday, December 19.

The company said service guarantees will be suspended as it ramps up operations, Canadians should expect delivery delays into January, and post office hours of operation may vary as it works to stabilize operations.

Expect international delays into 2025

For international mail, Canada Post said customers should expect delays into 2025 as it works to process “a significant accumulation” of mail and parcels currently queued up to enter the system. Canada Post will start accepting new international mail on December 23.

The company said it will continue to provide updated information on its website.

As of Monday afternoon, unionized postal workers in the NWT said they had yet to hear directly from the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, or CUPW, following Canada Post’s return to work announcement.

“We are just waiting right now,” one NWT-based worker said, who requested anonymity as they weren’t authorized by the union or their employer to discuss the matter.

The national return to work announcement came after Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon ordered the Canadian Industrial Relations Board, or CIRB, to “assess the likelihood” of the parties reaching an agreement by December 31, 2024.

The CIRB determined that was unlikely and, per MacKinnon’s direction, ordered postal employees to head back to work from December 17, 2024 to May 22, 2025.

Decision ‘disappointing,’ union says

In its own statement on Monday, the CUPW said the decision was “disappointing” for workers “who made sacrifices to fight for what is right and our rights to negotiate improvements to our working conditions.”

The union said it is challenging the constitutionality of the labour minister’s order and use of section 107 of the Canada Labour Code to intervene in the labour dispute. Those challenges are set to be heard by the CIRB on January 13 and 14.

According to the union, the CIRB directed Canada Post to implement a five percent increase retroactive to January 1, 2024, for the rural and suburban bargaining unit, and February 1, 2024 for the urban bargaining unit, one day after those collective agreements expired. Regular employees will receive an advanced payment of $1,000 and temporary employees $500 by December 24. The full retroactive amount will be paid to employees no later than January 31.

The union said the five percent increase was part of Canada Post’s last offer for the first year of the collective agreements. The union said that is a “baseline” wage increase and it will still be in a position to negotiate an additional wage increase for the same year during the period leading up to May 22, 2025.

Ollie Williams contributed reporting.