News Labour Relations
CIRB rules against Canada Post union’s challenge to back-to-work order

By Craig Lord and Christopher Reynolds

The Canada Industrial Relations Board has ruled against the union at Canada Post in its challenge to Ottawa’s move last year to force the postal employees back to work.

The federal government brought an end to a strike by postal workers during the busy holiday season last year using Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code to direct the labour board to order the workers back to work.

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers challenged the move, saying it violated its right to strike.

The board concluded that Section 107 does not violate the Charter. It also says it has no authority to review the minister’s decision.

“The courts have recognized that there can be limits to the right to strike and that government intervention to end a work stoppage can be justified in certain circumstances under Section 1 of the Charter,” the board said in its decision.

The CIRB decision was not unanimous. One member of the three-person panel dissented, suggesting that the government’s decision restricted the workers’ right to strike and interfered with their Charter rights.

The dispute between Canada Post and the union is ongoing as the two sides have been unable to reach terms on a new contract.

The union had declared a fresh countrywide strike on Sept. 25, hours after the government announced changes to the postal service, including an end to door-to-door mail delivery for nearly all Canadian households within the next decade.

However, it dialed back the disruptions earlier this month when it transitioned to rotating strikes across the country, restoring service.

The labour board ruling undercuts union leverage in negotiations across industries, said Michael Bjorge, who teaches labour history at Dalhousie University.

“This is a severe curtailment on the right to strike,” he claimed in an interview, stating that greater government authority to halt job action weakens management’s incentive to bargain in good faith.

He speculated that the postal union will look to appeal the tribunal ruling in court.

The union did not respond to requests for comment on the decision or a possible legal challenge.

However, some workers plan to launch a local promotional campaign. Union members in Toronto will go door to door on Saturday to deliver notices informing residents their home mailbox will be “shut down by federal order,” according to the Toronto and York Region Labour Council.