Canada Post says the union's overtime ban caused uncertainty for customers and affected results.DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press
Canada Post Corp. reported a $407-million loss before tax in the second quarter, blaming labour uncertainty for a steep fall in parcel volumes and revenue at the financially challenged postal service.
The Crown corporation said the loss was its largest before tax in a single quarter.
Parcel volumes and revenues both fell by about 37 per cent from the comparable quarter a year earlier. Canada Post says a Canadian Union of Postal Workers’ overtime ban, which began on May 23, caused uncertainty for customers and affected parcel results.
At the same time, Canada Post has been losing billions of dollars cumulatively over several years as it contends with the decline in letter-mail deliveries and as it cedes market share for parcels to low-cost competitors that operate daily.
“Over 50 per cent of year-to-date losses occurred in June, when labour uncertainty was at its peak,” Canada Post said in a news release on Tuesday, adding that the uncertainty is “driving parcel volumes to competitors that could offer delivery stability.”
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In January, the federal government lent Canada Post roughly $1-billion to help keep it afloat, with the postal service facing the maturation of $500-million in loans in July.
Canada Post recorded an $841-million loss before tax for the full year of 2024.
CUPW and Canada Post have failed to reach a collective agreement for 55,000 postal employees since bargaining began in November, 2023. The unionized workers went on a 32-day strike in late 2024, in the run-up to the crucial holiday season.
The federal government directed the Canada Industrial Relations Board to order Canada Post workers back to their jobs last December and to extend their collective bargaining agreement.
Canada Post employees recently voted against the Crown corporation’s latest offer, bringing the two sides back to the bargaining table.
Canada Post had asked the federal government to use a rarely used provision in the Canada Labour Code to bypass union leadership and direct union members to vote on the latest terms of a collective agreement.
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Canada Post and CUPW resumed bargaining last week, after the union responded to the postal service’s “best and final offers,” which the members voted against.
CUPW is asking for wage increases of 19 per cent over a four-year contract, with a 9-per-cent wage bump in the first year. Canada Post is offering a 13-per-cent wage increase over four years.
Besides wages, the two sides remain at odds over the issue of weekend parcel delivery.
Canada Post wants part-time, flexible employees to handle the delivery of parcels on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, but the union is pushing for full-time letter carriers to control weekend parcels. Canada Post argues that using the part-timers is a more cost-effective solution for boosting the speed of parcel deliveries, as it seeks to compete with private couriers.
CUPW pushed back on Tuesday against the idea that the postal service’s recent losses were caused by the union’s overtime ban.
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“Rather than taking accountability, Canada Post continues to point to workers as the cause of its losses,” CUPW spokesperson Emilie Tobin said in a statement.
Canada Post and CUPW were scheduled to meet on Monday with the assistance of federal mediators, but the union said the meeting was cancelled by the corporation.
With a report from Vanmala Subramaniam