First off is the Union statement
CUPW Issues 72-Hour Strike Notice: A Call for Fair Negotiation
Tuesday May 20 2025
2023-2027/251
No. 83 - AMENDED
On Monday, May 19, CUPW issued a 72-hour strike notice to Canada Post. This action was not taken lightly, but it was done for several reasons.
The collective agreements for the Urban Postal Operations and the Rural and Suburban Mail Carriers bargaining units, which were extended by the Government in December 2024, are set to expire Friday, May 23 at midnight.
CUPW negotiators met with Canada Post over several days at the end of April and early May, with the goal of resolving our bargaining dispute and achieving new collective agreements for both bargaining units.
Last week, Canada Post walked away from the bargaining table for the third time, telling the Union it would return with new comprehensive offers. A week has passed. With the expiry of our collective agreements drawing closer by the day, we are still waiting. The clock is ticking, and so far, Canada Post has yet to deliver.
The day after Canada Post walked away and paused bargaining, it fired another shot, by threatening to unilaterally change your working conditions and suspend employee benefits if new agreements aren’t reached. This aggressive move undermines good faith bargaining and the stability of our public postal service. It had to be met with strong resistance. Postal workers won’t be threatened or coerced into accepting offers that will gut our collective agreements and undermine good, stable jobs.
Our right to strike was taken away from us and put on “a time out” by former Minister of Labour Steven MacKinnon’s orders and the Canada Industrial Relations Board in December 2024. By issuing this notice, we are simply announcing our intention to continue our legal strike that was put on pause by the CIRB.
The Work Continues
Although we have served notices, there is still time for negotiations to take place. We remain committed to achieving negotiated collective agreements. Your National Executive Board and Negotiating Committees urge Canada Post to return to the bargaining table with real offers that protect the health and well-being of postal workers, support the communities we serve, and ensure a strong and sustainable public postal service for all.
In solidarity,
Jan Simpson
National President
Thats exactly why Canada Post wants the employees to take a vote. They are guessing they will vote for the offer.
That's a matter of opinion and I do respect yours. I strongly disagree. I realize it's a tough pill to swallow. I hope others respect my opinion as well.
I understand many online sellers use lettermail to ship freight so we have some bias. However the disruption to the entire online selling community affects the rest of us who rely on the Canada Post business services which are;
Expedited Lite (if elligible), Regular Parcel, Expedited Parcel, Xpresspost, Priority. (Lettermail is not a CP recommended service for freight. It's not recommended by eBay either. They get FV and PL fees without having to offer Seller protection so they allow it for domestic freight. [Fact checked at Canada Post Small Business website and eBay recommended shipping methods]
Most people get more unwanted junk mail than actual mail. Business's no longer want anyone to use it. Just ask any bank. Criminals feast on it. Google "Identity theft". It contributes to global warming and litter. Whether they want to or not, Canadian tax payers including eBay sellers who use tracked methods subsidize the loss which is currently 1.3 billion/year not including the side effect of residual loss IE: compounding interest on debt and compounded losses resulting from businesses forced to shut down due to labour disputes. 32 days at Christmas 2024 and many of us this time have been closed for at least 14 days in May 2025. Ironically sellers who use tracked services actually subsidize sellers who don't as all of us pay for the loss. One large eBay business in kelowna is for sale. Others are posting "How do I close my store?".
In the 1990s due to the decline of lettermail Canada Post started a new campaign called "Ad Mail" to increase revenue. To get on board I sent out hundreds of letters per month and spent a ton of money on "Ad-Mail". Most business owners quickly learned that addressed mail doesn't bring in new business. It only brings back the customers you already had for less profit. While "Ad-Mail" was a dud I was spending $900/month on Yellow Pages because it brought in new business. That was 30 years ago. Along came the internet. Canada Post tried everything to milk that without success and has been saddled with lettermail around it's neck ever since.
From The National Post May 30, 2025 re: Canada Post's Own 2024 Review
- The word “insolvency” is mentioned 13 times. “Outdated” is mentioned 22 times, and “urgent” comes up 19 times. There are bolded sections warning that the “financial situation is unsustainable” and that “the future of the national postal system is at risk.” There are references to a “Great Mail Decline” that is bleeding the corporation white.
- Canada Post delivered 6.4 billion individual pieces of mail over the last fiscal year; a category that includes letters, parcels and the reams of flyers colloquially referred to as “junk mail” (Canada Post calls it “direct mail”).
- Average out the loss by the corporation’s vehicle fleet of 15,300. The 2024 loss averages out to $85,000 for every truck and postal van. In other words, with the money lost in 2024, Canada Post could have replaced every single one of its vehicle fleet with a luxury EV.
- It’s a loss of $76 per address or 65 cents per letter. If last year’s operating loss was shared equally across all of those 17.6 million addresses, Canada Post lost $76 for every single one of them. If averaged out across the 21,800 delivery routes served by the corporation, it’s a loss of $60,000 per route.
- In 2024, Canada Post delivered just two billion letters, down from the “peak mail” of 5.5 billion letters delivered in 2006. So, if you take that $1.3 billion loss and divide it by every single letter delivered in 2024, that’s 65 cents per letter. For context, the current price of a standard letter stamp is $1.44, or $1.24 if purchased in a booklet.
- It’s a loss of about $50,000 per mail carrier
- The number of retail post offices in Canada stands at 5,700. This ranges from a post office counter at the back of a Shoppers Drug Mart to an ever-dwindling number of dedicated post offices, mostly in large urban centres.
- Some of those are more profitable than others, but in 2024 Canada Post lost an average of $228,000 for every one of those retail post offices.
When I was an infant my grandmother looked after me while my parents worked. She had a wooden box on her wall with a bell on in and a handset. No dial. No buttons. You simply lifted the receiver and the operator said two words "Number please". You told her the phone number you were calling and she patched you though to it on her switchboard. Maybe if the telephone operators had a better union we would carry wooden boxes in out pockets with a handset and ringer and they would still say "Number Please". When those operators were gone and we all got rotary phones they weren't missed. They didn't miss me either. I would climb on granny's desk, knock the receiver off and when she said "NUMBER PLEASE" I would jabber on and on, sort of like this letter. LOL
Yes, when lettermail finally falls off it's perch there will be some needed measures in place so that the people that need access to paper communication can have it but pl. These days with AI we will have unmanned aircraft for northern routes and even drones. If you want compromise we can agree lettermail isn't dead... it's just resting.
The business choice is either to keep going same as ever since the 90s whethering strike after strike or proactively change to a business model that incorporates Expedited Lite starting at $8 bucks so we don't have to lose Canada Post altogether. I do not want to see Canada Post privatized. If it wasn't important to me why would I take this much time and forum real estate to stick my neck out on such a controversial topic?
Lettermail might not be dead as @recped says but it's definitely resting. At the top of this is yet another photo suggestion showing sellers that you can get a heck of a lot out there for Expedted Lite rates.
Best regards to all.
Letter mail is useful for business. I sell cheap Coin Operated Paper Flyers. The cheap ones being $10.88 USD
The USD allows me to send these paper flyers via letter mail, and more importantly, I can offer free shipping. If it gets lost, it's no big deal. On flyers that are more expensive, like $50 or more, they're sent with tracking. the same applies to photographs. These light items need cost-effective letter mail. As a matter of fact Canada post allows the use of Letter Mail for all paper-based items, documents, photographs, certificates, stock etc. So in my case, I am glad I can send paper collectibles all around the world using that service. If it were gone, cheap paper goods would be too expensive to mail out using any other service.
intimewithmusic wrote:
Thank you for your input. It sounds like you are talking about Letter Post USA or Letter Post Int and you arent referencing "Lettermail" which is only domestic mail.
ANY international freight, ie merchandise no matter how small or light in ANY sort of packaging requires at least a CN22 customs doc complete with COO and the HR code. The Letter "mail" under discussion is specifically about domestic mail.
Please correct me if Im wrong but If you're sending any sort of freight internationally regardless of what the merchandise is inside of any sort of mailer without a customs doc it its very illegal. You can use one of CPs Business services I mentioned previously with the proper customs document (s).
This lettermail discussion pertains to domestic mail delivery that does not leave Canada.
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Interesting that you mention the CN22 customs form. I used to have my lettermail going to the USA returned. I used that form. I also used to wedge the paper items between two pieces of cardboard and a brown envelope. It still fit through the Canada Post plex glass plate used to make sure its the right size. When I phoned Canada Post to find out what the deal was on this. I was told if it was documents, Photographs or paper I did not need a customs form. I also switched out the 2 slabs of cardboard and started using stiff cardboard mailers 9x 12. Never had one returned and never had an issue applying stamps on them. The rule is paper items only. No plastic or CD etc. Maybe ok in Canada but not outside of Canada. Sorry if I am wrong on my term Letter Mail. I send items like I describe above to Canada as well as USA and international with no customs form and I use Canada Post Letter Mail rates as posted on their site. Letter to me means Paper, so its paper mail.
CUPW is once again facing the possibility of undue government interference in its collective bargaining process with Canada Post.
Canada Post’s request for a forced vote would not only skew collective bargaining but also interfere with CUPW’s relationship with its members and its role as their sole and exclusive bargaining agent.
A government ordered vote is unlikely to result in a quick return to labour relations peace.
We need to resolve this dispute as quickly and fairly as possible so that CUPW can focus on the vital public service its members provide to communities everywhere.
Tell the Minister of Jobs and Families: Do not order a vote on Canada Post’s offers!
