Canada Post and its largest union, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, are locked in a battle of ideologies. Management envisions the corporation becoming a hybrid workforce, where traditionally permanent positions incorporate gig-like aspects. At worst, it is the start of a move to a fully implemented Gig workforce.
CUPW has a strong commitment to the well-being of all working-class Canadians and is unwilling to compromise permanent and stable jobs for anything inferior. However, CUPW’s flaws often impede meeting this goal, and they additionally face fierce opposition from economic, social, and Government forces.
The following is a deeper look into the dynamics of this existential threat, particularly the role CUPW plays within this paradigm.
The Canadian Union of Postal Workers’ primary goal is to protect its members’ rights and the rights of the working class in general—something that is eroding rapidly in the Canadian mosaic. This Union decries the lack of democracy, interference, and even suppression of its Charter of Rights by successive Governments in representing workers’ rights and concerns.
Suppose CUPW loses the battle for their workers’ rights in the current round of negotiations with Canada Post. In that case, it sends a strong signal that the Government does not care about regular working-class Canadians. It is an open invitation for a broad spectrum of employment in Canada to shift towards gig work, where income is low, job security is lacking, and access to benefits, sick leave, or unemployment insurance is non-existent.
The present status of the working class is an inherent part of the Canadian identity and to strip this group of their hard-won economic place is a blow to who we are as Canadians and what we stand for.
The Union is firm in achieving its mission. However, their downfall lies in three areas: first, the financial sector. Their understanding of economics and big business is weak, especially apparent in their unrealistic contract proposals. These traits have been their Achilles’ heel in achieving harmony with Canada Post. Secondly, their overemphasis on external causes that have little or no value on the workfloor often misdirects them in achieving their core mission and losing cohesion within the membership.(1) Last of all, they use strike leverage too predictably and too often which the Government and the Corporation have used to their advantage.
There are intense demands from the public, the Government, Canada Post, and growing frustration within the CUPW membership for Jan Simpson, leader of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, to compromise their stance on reliable and consistent jobs in exchange for the survival of Canada Post.
One of the main concerns about CUPW in this round of negotiations is preventing Canada Post from sliding down the slippery slope of gigification. Gig work “consists of income-generating activities outside of traditional, long-term, direct-hire employment.”(2) Amazon, for example, uses Gig workers for delivery in their Amazon Flex service. The person is self-employed and uses their own vehicle and gas to deliver to predetermined points of call. The Amazon Flex service advertises that one can make up to $27.00 per hour (the ‘independent operator’ must use their own vehicle, pay for gas, vehicle insurance, and cover their own income tax from this). There are no benefits or holiday pay. You can choose your hours.(3) If you are sick, have an accident, or get injured on the job, or if volumes are low and there is no work, that is your problem, not Amazon’s. You can leave Amazon, or Amazon can discharge you for no reason at all.
Adam D. K. King, Assistant Professor, Labour Studies Program at the University of Manitoba, believes gigification is causing a significant problem in Canadian labour and society:
“Research from Canada and the United States suggests gig companies avoid paying millions of dollars in payroll taxes and workers’ compensation premiums. This not only deprives workers of protections, but also drains revenues from vital social benefit programs, such as unemployment insurance.”(4)
He also identifies that the Canada Post Strike is raising the much broader question of workers’ rights.
“The strike raises important questions about how Canada should respond to the growth of the gig economy, at Canada Post and across the broader economy.”(5)
The Canadian Union of Postal Workers reinforced their concern on their website:
“All workers, across the country, not just in Ontario, need to be concerned about the gig-ification of more and more jobs,” says Jan Simpson, President, Canadian Union of Postal Workers. “Workers in standard employment relationships, ask yourself: if gig work is cheapened and relegated to a subclass of workers, how long will it take your employer to see the advantage of employing gig workers instead of regular employees? CUPW is determined to resist that slippery slope and supports the struggle for fair and equal work.”(6)
On the other hand, the Federal Government has been monitoring the rise, success, and problems of gigification and has written an in-depth review. The report details that some think that gig work allows for “an opportunity for many workers to enter the labour market and accumulate meaningful work experiences. This is the case, for example, of young workers beginning their professional lives.”(7)(8) These voices believe gig work should be enlarged and entrenched in the Canadian labour system.
The Federal and Provincial Governments need to address the questions posed by Gig jobs or risk putting a large chunk of the working class into poverty, losing valuable tax income for services such as health and community-based services.
Canada Post, in its latest contractual offers, would like part-time weekend workers who work for less pay and temporary, restricted benefits. The Corporation aims to implement a daily-delivery algorithm for calculating a workday for each employee, initially in a small experimental form to test its effectiveness, and subsequently roll it out across the entire enterprise. Where the algorithm does not work, management wants the ability to give more work to those who finish earlier. CUPW is very critical of these overtures. The evidence is not conclusive, but it indicates a slide towards gigification.
Is there common ground between Canada Post’s new vision for a smaller, flexible, almost, but not quite, gigified workforce and CUPW’s desire for stable, long-term, full-time jobs without downsizing?
CUPW may have to accept the reality of downsizing, but cannot give in to a new workforce with no job security, limited benefits, and variable hours.
The Canadian Government must take CUPW’s resistance as a national crisis on employment standards for all Canadians. A wake-up call to limit or restrict the use of gigification in our economy before a severe collapse of the middle and working classes begins in all sectors. It is an abdication of their responsibilities to protect their citizens if they do not act.
Canada Post has the right to downsize, but it must continue to be a positive contributor to Canadian communities, offering permanent jobs, competitive wages, and benefits. A Crown Corporation moving to a gig work framework is antithetical to what it means to be a modern Canadian. We do not want to return to the early 1900s, when the lower middle and working classes had very few rights or opportunities.
The Canada Post/CUPW standoff is a litmus test of the Canadian identity. If the Government continues to look the other way, a large segment of the Canadian population will fall into poverty. CUPW is vigilant about this possibility in its negotiations and loves its country, and that is why it is stubbornly sticking to its mandate.
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Footnotes: * Note that all website information was gathered from October 6–7th, 2025.
(1) For example in 2008 when Postal Transformation was announced, CUPW, would not focus or concentrate on this impact on its workers. Instead, it devoted all its time and energy to the Arab/Israeli conflict and gender rights. These are essential causes, but the timing was not right given the circumstances between the Corporation and its employees.
(6) https://www.cupw.ca/en/gig-workers-%E2%80%9Cgig-work-real-work%E2%80%9D
(8) https://angusreid.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/2019.11.26_Gig_economy_pdf.pdf “One-in-three Canadians have done some kind of informal work in the past five years”