The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) has been ordered to conduct a vote on a final contract offer from Canada Post (CP), in hopes of finally bringing a resolution to 18 months of  labor talks between the two sides.

In an order issued on June 12, Canada's Minister of Jobs and Families Patty Hajdu directed the union to vote on CP's offer "as soon as possible." The contract includes a 6% wage increase in the first year, 3% in year two, and then another 2% in each of years three and four. It also adds a minimum guarantee of 15 hours per week for part-time employees, a $1,000 signing bonus for full-time employees, and a removal of compulsory overtime.

Although CP praised Hajdu's directive as an opportunity for workers to have a voice in the collective bargaining process, the CUPW criticized the move in a June 12 release as "yet another assault on our collective bargaining rights," citing how the union was also forced by the Canadian government to end a 33-day strike in December 2024. 

"The government's actions have not helped to bring this impasse closer to a resolution," CUPW national president Jan Simpson said. "They have only pushed us further down the road."

In a subsequent release on June 13, the union urged its members to vote against CP's offer, while asserting that the wage increases included in the contract are "not enough," and that the agreement gives too much power to supervisors to reassign work to favored employees and eliminate overtime opportunities.

The CUPW instituted a national overtime ban on May 23, less than a week after CP pulled out of collective bargaining negotiations. At the time, CP claimed that the union had left "little room for progress" in talks, while the union alleged that CP had "refused to take responsibility for the financial situation it finds itself in." CP has recorded annual losses in each year dating back to 2018, and was on pace to completely deplete its cash reserves by Q2 of 2025 before the federal government stepped in with a $1 billion lifeline in January.