‘You Have to Hope’: Reactions from Postal Workers on the Picket Line as Ottawa Moves to End Strike

Dozens of Canada Post workers gathered outside a delivery centre in east Toronto early Friday morning, expressing a mix of frustration, disappointment, and hope as Ottawa intervened to end their nearly month-long strike.

After being on the picket lines since November 15, many employees in yellow jackets were glued to their phones, eager for details about the government’s announcement affecting approximately 55,000 workers. Some stood huddled around a fire they had made to keep warm in the frigid temperatures.

Postal worker Kirk Gonnsen expressed his disappointment that a new collective agreement had not been reached. However, he also felt relief knowing that his colleagues, who were struggling financially, would soon return to work. “I think it is unfortunate that this is the resolution that we came to,” he stated. “But I am happy that people, my colleagues who are suffering, are going to be able to go back to work and earn some money.”

At a press conference in Ottawa, Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon announced that the government would seek to end the strike due to an ongoing impasse between Canada Post and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW). He stated that he would ask the Canada Industrial Relations Board to order workers back to their jobs and extend their current contract until May if no new agreement could be reached by the end of the year. An inquiry will also be launched to explore why negotiations failed and how a new agreement might be achieved.

Gonnsen shared his hopes for the inquiry, emphasizing the importance of hoping for positive results for “my own emotional stability.” He said, “You have to hope that a good resolution is going to come out of this.”

The union has condemned the government’s actions, claiming it is an assault on workers' rights. Many workers standing outside the Toronto facility felt that Canada Post had not been negotiating in good faith, a claim that the corporation rejects. Fellow union member Helen Karrandjas voiced her disappointment at being ordered back to work without a fair deal in place. “We work hard. We deserve a living wage, and it looks like Canada Post’s upper management is not willing to negotiate,” she remarked.

Union member Gerard Van Deelen noted that the launch of an inquiry could be a positive step, stating, “Now we are going to have a commission and then back to negotiations. I can only hope the commission finds something about management's unwillingness to budge an inch.”

Denise Caster mentioned that while she and her colleagues always wanted to return to work, they hoped to do so after a fair agreement was reached. “All they want to do is take away from us. They are claiming that we are being greedy and that we want too much. We only want what is fair,” she stated, adding, “I guess we will have to wait until May to see what is going to happen with that.”

This situation continues to unfold as postal workers remain vigilant and hopeful for a resolution that meets their needs.

postal, strike, government