In an unprecedented move in the history of collective bargaining at the federal level in Canada, Minister of Jobs and Families, Patty Hajdu, agreed to a request from Canada Post that she use her power under section 108.1 of the Canada Labour Code to order a vote on the final offers that Canada Post submitted to the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) on May 28, 2025. The Canada Industrial Relations Board will be responsible for conducting the vote.

According to CUPW National President Jan Simpson, the minister’s decision is “yet another assault” on the union’s collective bargaining rights. It comes on the heels of other attacks against CUPW in recent months. Last December, then Minister of Labour Steven MacKinnon used section 107 of the Canada Labour Code to put the legal strike on hold and invoked section 108 to create a Commission of Inquiry into Labour Relations.

Each time it has intervened, the government has done so in favour of Canada Post management: the suspension of CUPW’s legal strike; the creation of a Board of Inquiry with a mandate biased towards management positions; and now, the forcing of a vote despite the union’s strong opposition.

Marc-Édouard Joubert, President of the Montréal-Metropolitan Regional Council of the Fédération des travailleurs et travailleuses du Québec (FTQ) and himself a CUPW member, said in a post on his Facebook page:

This is the effect of the normalization of anti-union rhetoric. The right to representation is now subject to the will of the Jobs and Families Minister. She is forcing a vote on Canada Post’s final offer. The habit of government interference is a dangerous trend that undermines the rules of fair negotiation and the desired balance of power. It is absolutely despicable! This is a dark day in labour history. What is the point of free bargaining rights when the final offer is not subject to question?

Axing the position of minister of labour: an ominous signal

When Prime Minister Mark Carney formed his first cabinet, he created a new role of minister of jobs and families and appointed Patty Hajdu to that position (the portfolio is also responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario). The position of minister of labour disappeared in March.

Carney’s cabinet is thus the first since 1909 without a dedicated labour ministry. The situation did not improve after the election, as Carney officially assigned only a “secretary of state” portfolio to labour, which is not a ministerial position. As Christo Aivalis writes in Canadian Dimension, no prime minister has given less official space to workers in the last 120 years.

During a Radio-Canada panel discussion on March 14, Stéphanie Chouinard, professor of political science at both the Royal Military College and Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, said that Carney’s decision to eliminate the position of minister of labour signalled a shift toward the “economy” at the expense of workers.

Creating a precedent with the current offensive against CUPW, one of Canada’s most militant unions, in the midst of gruelling efforts to negotiate with the US regime, this anti-union bid sends a clear message: the Canadian government will stand shoulder to shoulder with Trump in his anti-worker offensive.

The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) agrees, stating on their website:

Donald Trump has launched one of the most aggressive anti-union offensives in US history. With the stroke of a pen, he has swept away the collective bargaining rights of one million federal public servants. This unprecedented attack, which strips these people of their union protections, is part of a broader effort to silence unions that have ‘declared war’ on the president’s agenda, according to a White House fact sheet.

But this isn’t just an attack on American workers—it’s a warning sign for all of us in Canada.

We have seen what happens when governments attack unions: workers lose their rights, wages stagnate, and public services suffer. The right-wing propaganda machine has convinced millions of Americans to vote against their own best interests, and we can’t let that happen here. Trump’s actions set a dangerous precedent that could fuel similar anti-worker policies in Canada.

Union demands better services at lower cost

In an interview with Presse-toi-à-gauche last December, Renaud Viel, President of the CUPW Montréal local, explained that the union criticized Canada Post’s wasteful spending and proposed financial solutions. Canada Post now provides vehicles to all mail carriers, which is completely unnecessary, costly, and anti-environmental. The union opposes this new practice and has put forward alternatives. It is proposing that all private parcel delivery companies deliver regionally to Canada Post warehouses, such as the Repentigny branch in Québec, and that mail carriers would deliver parcels for the final kilometre from the warehouse to residences. This would result in far fewer delivery cars and trucks on the road and much less traffic congestion and pollution.

Towards a broad mobilization

CUPW is on the front lines of a critical struggle. In the face of the Carney government’s aggressive actions, we cannot allow the union to stand alone. A defeat for CUPW would signal the start of a broader assault—not just on the labour movement, but also on feminist, environmental, and grassroots popular struggles across the country. Now is the time to unite and mobilize together. If we fail to act collectively, we risk being isolated and defeated one by one.

It’s up to us to organize and support actions and demonstrations to create a united front across Canada and Québec that can defeat the anti-labour offensive.

Translated by Andrea Levy, with some modifications, from an article in French on the Presse-toi à gauche website.

André Frappier is a regular contributor to CD and a member of the magazine’s coordinating committee. He also serves on the editorial board of the online weekly Presse-toi à gauche and has been a member of the FTQ Montréal Labour Council for many years.