Overtime Ban Begins: CUPW Escalates Action While Strike Deadline Passes

Canada Post’s 55,000 unionized employees stayed on the job early Friday but imposed an immediate overtime ban after 11th-hour negotiations failed to yield a contract. The Canadian Union of Postal Workers says members will refuse work beyond eight hours a day or 40 hours a week while leaders sift through offers they call “short of reality,” citing a demanded 19 % wage hike to offset years of inflation.

Management warns the ban could snarl delivery of 8.5 million letters and 1.1 million parcels daily, compounding the Crown corporation’s $3.8 billion in losses since 2018. Key sticking points remain weekend staffing and a Canada Post push to boost part-time positions by 20 %, a move the union argues would erode full-time jobs just as a federal report brands the service “effectively bankrupt.”

Thursday night’s 30-minute bargaining session produced no breakthrough; CUPW rejected a two-week “truce” and says further job actions may follow. Another walkout—six months after a 32-day strike cost small businesses an estimated $1.6 billion—would deepen Canada Post’s financial hole and pressure Ottawa to intervene as peak summer shipping looms.