USPS suspends mail service to Canada as strike continues

By David Hartwig

The United States Postal Service temporarily suspended international mail service to Canada as of Nov. 25 due to a national strike of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers which began Nov. 15.

The USPS said Canadian airports are still accepting inbound mail, but the mail is not moving within Canada.

“International items received as of November 15 are being held in secure containers and have not been processed,” the USPS said. “As such, no scans of any sort are available at this time, including item-level and receptacle scans.”

According to the USPS, mail will be delivered on a first-in, first-out basis once service resumes.

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers went on strike Nov. 15, and the union began working with Canada Post through a mediator on Nov. 18. Canada Post said Nov. 26 that the union informed the postal service that it will no longer respond in the negotiation.

Canada Post said in a Nov. 26 press release that its approach would create part-time jobs. Currently 95 percent of employees on its delivery team work full-time.

“Our proposals would add a greater mix of part-time and full-time employees to our delivery model to respond to the daily variations in parcel volumes and provide weekend delivery,” Canada Post said.

According to a Nov. 26 statement from the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, part-time employees would be hired to have only eight hours of scheduled work per week.

“It’s clear that Canada Post is out of touch with the workers of this country,” the union said. “A Canada Post spokesperson said earlier in the strike that young people don’t want full-time work; that they all want ‘flexibility.’ But over the last few years, all we’ve heard is that young people are struggling with the high cost of living. They are working multiple jobs not because they want to, but because they need to in order to survive. We are bargaining not only for the workers of today, but so new postal workers will be compensated fairly so they won’t need multiple jobs.”

Regular updates on Canada Post service disruptions are available online. The latest news during the strike from the Canadian Union of Postal Workers is available online.

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