Canada Post Faces Friday Walkout as Union Rejects 13 % Wage Offer

Canada Post’s 72-hour strike clock is ticking toward midnight Friday after the Canadian Union of Postal Workers said the corporation’s latest proposal still misses the mark. Management offered a 13 percent raise spread over four years, six personal days and tweaks to disability leave, but the union insists members need a 19 percent hike to keep pace with living costs. CUPW also balks at plans to boost part-time roles to roughly 30 percent of staffing and delay benefits for new hires, calling it a “second-class” system.

If talks collapse, it will be the second shutdown in six months; the previous stoppage lasted 32 days before workers were legislated back. A fresh walkout would stall mail, parcels and government cheques nationwide just as businesses gear up for summer shipping. Canada Post says its offer protects defined-benefit pensions, seven-week vacation ceilings and cost-of-living allowances, but the union counters that concessions on dynamic routing, wash-up time and weekend staffing outweigh the gains.

Both sides traded proposals to pause the strike, yet no extension was reached. Negotiators now have mere hours to bridge gaps on wages, scheduling and benefit tiers before picket lines form. Should the deadline pass, the federal government could again face pressure to intervene, while millions of Canadians brace for delivery delays during one of the busiest mailing periods of the year.