Canada Post workers walk

Just as the holiday shopping season hits...

Don’t bother checking the mail today.

Canada Post workers are officially on strike after negotiations with their employer failed just as the busy holiday shopping and shipping season begins.

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) says the strike affects roughly 55,000 employees, leaving mail and parcel deliveries at a standstill.

In a statement, the CUPW said in part, “After a year of bargaining with little progress, postal workers made the difficult decision to strike… …Canada Post left us no choice when it threatened to change our working conditions and leave our members exposed to layoffs.”

The union says Canada Post could have prevented the strike but refused to “Negotiate real solutions to the issues postal workers face every day.”

Early this week, CUPW issued a 72-hour strike notice, citing demands for fair wages, safer working conditions, and other key improvements. Union leaders say they have been bargaining for nearly a year.

Canada Post made a brief statement on their website: “Customers will experience delays due to the strike activity. Mail and parcels will not be processed or delivered for the duration of the national strike, and some post offices will be closed. Service guarantees will be impacted for items already in the postal network. No new items will be accepted until the national disruption is over.”

There was no statement on the state of negotiations from Canada Post’s point of view as of 5:30 a.m. However, talks between the union and the Crown corporation are expected to continue during the strike in hopes of finding a resolution.