(rdnewsNOW/Ian Gustafson)

By Ian Gustafson

Government changes

Red Deer postal workers join countrywide strike

Sep 26, 2025 | 2:15 PM

After the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) announced a countrywide strike on Thursday, postal workers in Red Deer began picketing on Friday.

An approximate 55,000 members of the CUPW are striking across the nation after the federal government announced multiple changes on Thursday.

The job action comes after Procurement Minister Joël Lightbound announced slowing down the frequency of mail delivery and closing some post offices. They also announced door-to-door mail delivery will end for nearly all Canadian households in the future.

The government announced the changes because of Canada Post’s finances in response to a decline in letter mail and the Crown corporation’s small share of the parcel market.

In Red Deer, approximately 30 workers of CUPW Local 818 began picketing in front of the north end location on 67A Street.

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There are approximately 300 members who are a part of the local union, 100 being from Red Deer. The rest are from Rocky Mountain House, Stettler, Olds, Innisfail, and Lacombe.

Local 818 President Bill Kilsby, said as a letter carrier, he loves going door-to-door and to lose that would be unfortunate.

“We love getting to know our customers… It’s that customer service and service to Canadians that is really vital. To lose that, it’s a big loss to Canadians and the service they get from us,” he said.

Kilsby added, the local union understands what’s at stake and explained the measures the government wants to impose would cut a lot of jobs and service to Canadians.

“We see the bigger picture and it’s frustrating because we’ve been without a contract for a year and a half now. And for a year and a half, Canada Post has been sending a lot of work and parcels over to Purolator so they’re not losing the money,” he said. “It’s really deceptive to Canadians in that we’re claiming all of these losses, but Purolator doesn’t have to post how much money they’ve made.”

Kilsby explained, they’ve been trying to get back to the bargaining table for quite some time. Employees voted down the most recent contract offer earlier this year, which he said sent a strong message.

What they’re offering, Kilsby said, is essentially a lot more cutbacks and less job security.

The message the union is hoping to get across is that they want a new collective agreement and to return to work. They want to be serving Canadians.

“We’ve fallen so far behind,” he said. “Most of our employees here don’t just have one job, but many of us including myself, have two or three jobs to make ends meet. It’s sad to see that’s where we are today and we’re fighting to save Canada Post.”

In a media release from Canada Post yesterday, they said they’re disappointed the union chose to escalate their strike activity, “which will further deteriorate Canada Post’s financial situation.”

The organization explained operations will shut down during a national strike and that customers should expect delays.

Mail and parcels will not be processed or delivered during the strike, and some post offices will be closed.

Those parcels and mail in the postal network will be secured and delivered as quickly as possible once operations resume.

-With Files from the Canadian Press