The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) said that instead of a strike, which they gave notice for earlier this week, they would be implementing a nationwide overtime ban. More than 55,000 Canada Post workers are being called on to refuse to work more than eight hours a day

 

and more than 40 hours in a week as the union reviews the latest offers from the Crown Corporation.

Canada Post, union disagree over taking ‘five-minute wash-up time.’ Here’s what it is

The decision by CUPW comes after the Crown Corporation

rejected the union’s offer

to delay a strike by two weeks

creating widespread uncertainty

, the union said.

“At this time, the Union has decided to proceed with an overtime ban to minimize disruptions to the public, and lost days to members,” the union’s national president Jan Simpson

said in a statement.

The union said that it may take additional action in the future if Canada Post changes its working conditions, suspends its benefits or begins layoffs.

“With the urban collective agreement no longer in effect, we have the right not to take overtime, even if your supervisor says it’s forced overtime – because forced overtime was enabled by the collective agreement,” the union said.

It added that letter carriers should return to the depot and drop off their mail after eight hours of work “regardless of whether they have completed their routes.” For part-time and temporary workers, they are permitted to extend to a maximum of eight hours a day or 40 hours a week.

The union’s negotiators are continuing to review proposals put forward by Canada Post on Wednesday. However, the

union has already said that the latest offers were not adequate

. Some of the issues both sides cannot agree upon include weekend work, wages, cost of living allowance, dynamic routing and

five-minute wash-up time

(when employees are given paid time for handwashing prior to a meal).

Canada Post acknowledged the nationwide overtime ban. In

a news release on Friday

, the corporation said it would continue operations but customers may experience delays. It has “already seen parcel and mail volumes decline significantly as customers prepare for another potential labour disruption,” it said.

The corporation added: “Further escalation in strike activity would have major impacts on employees, small businesses and the millions of Canadians who rely on the postal system – and deepen the company’s already serious financial situation. It is critical that both parties focus their energies on resolving issues to reach negotiated agreements.”

Last November, when the union went on a strike that lasted 32 days, Canada Post said it missed delivering

12 million parcels

in early December.

The strike came to a halt with the government’s intervention. Former minister of labour

Steven MacKinnon requested

that the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) order Canada Post employees back to work if it found that the union and the corporation would not agree by the end of the year. Employees were ordered back to work on Dec. 17.

The terms of the collective agreements of the unions bargaining units, the Urban Postal Operation (UPO) and the Rural and Suburban Mail Carriers (RSMC), were extended until May 22.

Negotiations between Canada Post and the union have been ongoing since the end of the strike. A series of hearings were held to try to solve the issues between them. But as the deadline for new collective agreements approached, neither side could agree on terms. A

report by the Industrial Inquiry Commission

, released mid-May, details the highly contentious negotiations and includes recommendations by its commissioner William Kaplan.

The

union said

that the report “skews heavily in favour of Canada Post’s positions.”

Conversely,

Canada Post said

it welcomed the report’s recommendations and it would “strive to work with our bargaining agents to address our challenges.”

Canada Post has said repeatedly that its financial situation is dire.

“Since 2018, the Corporation has lost more than $3 billion before tax, and it will post another significant loss for 2024,” the corporation said on Thursday. “In early 2025, the Government of Canada announced repayable funding of up to $1.034 billion for Canada Post to prevent insolvency.”

Meanwhile, the union reiterated to its workers that the nationwide overtime ban is a “legal strike action.”

“You cannot be disciplined for participating in a legal strike action,” it said in a news release on Thursday. “When you hit the maximum in a day or in a week, just say no.”

• What is the ‘five-minute wash-up time’ Canada Post, union can’t seem to agree on?
• Canada Post’s new offers ‘fall short,’ union says as review ongoing

Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here.

OTTAWA — Days after the federal election, Prime Minister Mark Carney stepped into the National Press Theatre and did something Canadians hadn’t seen in nearly 10 years under Justin Trudeau: he started the press conference virtually on time.

Carney’s punctuality was a stark contrast with Trudeau, who would frequently start events 30 to 60 minutes later than planned. It is also one of many emerging differences in how the former central banker runs his office, cabinet and caucus compared to his predecessor.

National Post spoke with a half dozen current and former PMO officials, senior bureaucrats and caucus members. All were granted anonymity to discuss internal workings of government openly.

They described Carney as extremely focused on delivering an ambitious agenda of reshaping the Canadian economy in the era of U.S. Donald Trump. He is fiercely punctual, runs a tight ship during meetings and is very decisive — all marked differences from his predecessor.

Gone is the indecision that marred Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s office, with important decision documents often sitting weeks or months on the desk of chief of staff Katie Telford. Some bottlenecks still exist, but they are more the product of an understaffed prime minister’s office (PMO) serving a political neophyte.

“Decision-making is not a problem,” said one senior government official, describing Carney as “task focused” and for whom results matter.

“He does not suffer fools,” the official added, a common refrain among all sources in this story.

Carney also cares deeply about professionalism in his office. Staff are expected to dress in formal business attire and documents are to be written using British spelling, for example.

But the prime minister is already bearing the signs of a potential micromanager, wanting to review or rework documents or communications products that should be well below the purview of a prime minister.

He is also short on patience and highly demanding of his advisors, senior bureaucrats and cabinet members while not afraid of calling out underperforming members of his entourage.

Whereas there was a sense among Trudeau’s entourage and office that he would give people “multiple kicks at the can” if they provided a sub-par briefing or weren’t on top of their files, sources say Carney is not so patient. Get it right the first time or risk not being called on for that topic again.

Carney filled half of his 28-person cabinet with new faces last week, but all the sources say no one’s job — not even veteran ministers — is safe. If ministers don’t perform to Carney’s expectations or fail to find ways to deliver on their mandates quickly, they may not last the year at the table.

“Carney will call out ministers if needed,” said one senior former Liberal who worked in both the Trudeau and Carney governments. “And he will probably call them personally to do it. Trudeau never called his ministers.”

One Liberal MP even theorized that there could be a cabinet shuffle in less than one year.

“This guy will not have patience, and that’s the thing. That’s why we think there will be a shuffle at some point in the next eight months, or something, not within the next eight months, but in like eight months time, or something like that, less than a year,” a Liberal MP said.

“If you’re that ambitious as a leader, you’re not going to have a lot of time for people who are failing at their files. He’s going to find replacements, you would think, but let’s see,” the MP added.

As a new politician, sources say Carney is not yet fully aware of what he needs and doesn’t need to know. The result is that he will ask to read documents that the prime minister shouldn’t need to review or generate an abundance of back-and-forths demanding staff rewrite briefing notes to his liking, two sources detailed.

“He’s too deep into details already,” said the former Liberal staffer, adding they were frequently surprised by some of the material Carney demanded to see.

Another concern among Liberals is that days before the House of Commons is set to resume, Carney’s office is still surprisingly understaffed.

The prime minister has still not confirmed who will be his permanent chief of staff after temporarily appointing former minister Marco Mendicino to the position back in March.

Thursday evening, Carney announced that Mendicino

had extended his term “into the summer” to “lead the transition of the PMO on my behalf.”

The chief of staff oversees staffing through the PMO but also has a heavy hand in selecting ministers’ chiefs, who then have to fill all the vacancies in their minister’s office. Most of those decisions have been on hold while Carney decided who would be his top aide going forward.

It’s not unusual that PMO and ministers’ offices aren’t fully staffed less than one month after the new prime minister was elected. But all the sources said it becomes problematic when the new prime minister wants move at near-record speed, forming cabinet within two weeks and recalling Parliament within four.

Multiple sources described the state of PMO as a “s–tshow” as key staff who worked with Carney before and during the election wait to see which job they will be offered during this Parliament.

They point to the lack of clear leadership at PMO as explanation for the “disastrous” first outing of Carney’s cabinet on May 18 where

numerous ministers made controversial or headline-generating statements

.

One senior government official said that the issues at PMO mean that decisions are being made, but implementing them can be difficult.

“The PMO is not even settled yet. So, they’re figuring stuff out and how to do stuff, but they are quick on decisions and on recognizing the decisions that need to be made. And so, the corollary on that is that once a decision is made, they expect action to be taken… which could be a challenge,” said the veteran official.

Another key challenge is Parliament. Many Liberals feel that Carney doesn’t fully grasp the challenges of leading a minority government through a fractured House of Commons and a Senate without a Liberal caucus.

Without a clear majority, a governing party must negotiate with opposition MPs to get their bills through both the House of Commons and committees. If it fails to do so, effective opposition parties can take over the agenda of the Commons or some committees (or both) and stonewall the government’s legislative agenda.

Sources point to the scars of last fall’s parliamentary session. Shortly after Trudeau and ex-NDP leader Jagmeet Singh ripped up their supply and confidence agreement last summer, the minority Liberals totally lost control of the House of Commons.

From September until prorogation in January, the Liberals were virtually unable to pass any legislation because the House of Commons was dominated by opposition-led parliamentary privilege debates.

At the same time, opposition parties were able to seize the agenda of multiple committees to launch studies into embarrassing topics for the Liberals.

Senior Liberals say if Carney, who frequently boasts of being a newbie politician, doesn’t surround himself with Commons connoisseurs, his agenda risks being derailed the same way.

They say that recent comments by Carney suggest to them that he doesn’t fully grasp the challenge at hand as his party sits two seats shy of a majority in the House of Commons.

“We received more votes than anyone else in any election,” Carney told reporters last week when asked if he expects to govern like he heads a majority government.

“We’re governing for all Canadians, all regions, with a strong and clear mandate that came out of the election, and that’s how we will govern.”

National Post with files from Catherine Lévesque.

cnardi@postmedia.com

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Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our politics newsletter, First Reading, here.

Authorities have “tentatively” identified Chicago resident Elias Rodriguez, 31, as the accused who gunned down two Israeli diplomats in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday night.

According to police in the U.S. Capitol, on-site security detained Rodriguez near the Capital Jewish Museum, about 12 blocks east of the White House, after he allegedly opened fire on four people leaving an event there.

Israeli Embassy employees Yaron Lischinsky, 30, and Sarah Lynn Milgrim, 26, were killed. Their ages aren’t immediately available, but the Israeli Ambassador to the U.S., Yechiel Leiter, said they were a young couple about to be engaged. The two other individuals, both American women, escaped physically unharmed, according to officials who spoke to

CNN

.

Yaron and Sarah were our friends and colleagues. They were in the prime of their lives.

This evening, a terrorist shot and killed them as they exited an event at the Capital Jewish Museum in DC.

The entire embassy staff is heartbroken and devastated by their murder. No words… pic.twitter.com/2HytKDp8Fr

— Embassy of Israel to the USA (@IsraelinUSA) May 22, 2025

Washington Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela Smith said witnesses reported Rodriguez pacing back and forth in front of the building before the incident.

Once in police custody, Smith said the suspect “implied he committed the offence” and told officers where he’d disposed of the handgun he’d allegedly used, which has since been recovered.

“The suspect chanted ‘Free, free Palestine’ while in custody,” Smith told reporters during

a press conference.

Smith also said Rodriguez, who is believed to have acted alone, hasn’t had any previous interactions with metro police.

“We don’t see anything in his background that would have put him on our radar at this time,” she added, but officials will conduct a “deep dive” to learn more.

Rodriguez is reportedly being interviewed by Washington police and the FBI, per CNN. The Israeli embassy is also working with law enforcement.

Smith said it’s too early to discuss a possible motive and didn’t answer whether Rodrigues travelled to D.C. with the intent to carry out this act.

In response to reports by media outlets such as

The Independent

and

NDTV

that he is an active member of the Party of Socialism and Liberation, a U.S. communist party and offshoot of the Marxist-Leninist Workers World Party, the group denied any current involvement.

“We reject any attempt to associate the PSL with the DC shooting,”

they posted on X

. “Elias Rodriguez is not a member of the PSL. He had a brief association with one branch of the PSL that ended in 2017. We know of no contact with him in over 7 years. We have nothing to do with this shooting and do not support it.”

We reject any attempt to associate the PSL with the DC shooting. Elias Rodriguez is not a member of the PSL. He had a brief association with one branch of the PSL that ended in 2017. We know of no contact with him in over 7 years. We have nothing to do with this shooting and do…

— Party for Socialism and Liberation (@pslnational) May 22, 2025

• Two Israeli embassy staffers killed in shooting outside Jewish museum in Washington
• This is what ‘globalize the intifada’ looks like

Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here.

As the possibility of a strike on Friday looms, the Canada Post and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) have several points that they cannot agree upon.

The Crown Corporation received

notice of a strike on Monday

. It presented the union with new proposals for both of its bargaining units, Urban Postal Operation (UPO) and the Rural and Suburban Mail Carriers (RSMC), on Wednesday. The

union said it would be reviewing the offers

, and said it had extended a two-week truce to Canada Post. However, the corporation refused that request, and a strike on Friday remains a possibility.

As the review of the proposals are underway, the union said later on Wednesday that the offers “fall short.”

Among remaining sticking points are weekend work, benefits, wages, dynamic routing, and load levelling. The union also said that Canada Post would be “taking away the 5-minute wash-up time.”

Canada Post echoed this statement in

a summary of its new global for employees in the Urban unit

. The corporation said: “We’re removing the 5-minute wash-up time before the meal period.”

Here’s what to know.

What is five-minute wash-up time?

Five-minute wash-up time refers to time when employees can get ready before they have a meal.

“Employees shall, during working hours, be allowed five (5) minutes paid wash-up time before the meal period when the nature of their work makes it necessary,”

according to the Agreement between Canada Post Corporation and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers

.

In a section about “unproductive time” in

Canada Post’s written submission to the Industrial Inquiry Commission (IIC) in February

, the corporation says part of the Urban agreement allows for “five minutes of paid wash-up time to allow employees to wash their hands before a meal period when the nature of their work makes it necessary.” The commission was created to examine the key issues between both parties with a series of public hearings.

However, Canada Post has removed wash-up time from the new Urban offer currently under review.

Why is five-minute wash-up time such a sticking point between Canada Post, union?

Rafael Gomez, University of Toronto professor and director of the Centre for Industrial Relations & Human Resources, said in an emailed statement to National Post on Thursday that the issue “only inflames members and makes it more likely we will have another strike.”

“I guess management is saying, ‘Any worker is free to wash up after a shift is done, but why should “I”

 

(i.e., the employer) be asked to pay if the shift is done? Wash up on your time…no one is stopping you,’” he said.

He continued: “While on the other side, the union is saying, ‘Remaining healthy and ready to work another shift IS something “you” (i.e., the employer) should care about and hence pay for.’”

What has the union said about five-minute wash-up time?

The union said that “handwashing is a small but significant part of ensuring a safe, healthy and respectful workplace for all postal workers,” in an emailed statement to National Post on Thursday.

A final

report by ICC

 cited reasons why there was a breakdown in negotiations ahead of the union’s last strike in November 2024.

Canada Post, according to the union, was “indifferent and unresponsive to its legitimate bargaining demands.” One of the concessions that the corporation was seeking included

“

the elimination of the 5-minute wash-up period.”

What are Canada Post’s reasons for getting rid of five-minute wash-up time?

Per the report, none of Canada Post’s competitors “enjoyed five minutes of paid wash-up time or paid lunches.”

“Canada Post proposed elimination, which would not impact take-home pay but would reduce unproductive time,” the report stated, speaking to the reason why the corporation wanted to get rid of five-minute wash-up time.

Canada Post did not immediately respond to National Post’s request for comment.

• Canada Post’s new offers ‘fall short,’ union says as review ongoing
• Sabine El-Chidiac: Canada Post union addicted to irrelevancy

Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here.

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) is reviewing offers presented by the Crown Corporation as a potential strike looms.

A 72-hour strike notice was issued on Tuesday, with the deadline set as Friday midnight for a planned strike.

If the postal workers hit the picket lines, this would be their second strike in less than six months. The

last strike was in November

and lasted 32 days after both the parties failed to reach a consensus. In December, the workers were ordered back to work by the Canada Industrial Relations Board.

Canada Post rejects strike delay offer from the union

A two-week pause on the strike was proposed by the union, according to CUPW negotiator Jim Gallant. But

Canada Post did not agree to the proposal

, pushing for the union to agree to its offers submitted Wednesday.

The new offers include a wage increase of 6 per cent in year one for current employees, 3 per cent in year two, and 2 per cent in year three and year four, respectively, or 13.59 per cent compounded, per a news release.

“The offers also provide employees with better income replacement for leave under the short-term disability program, and six added personal days locked into the collective agreements,” Canada Post said in a statement.

Under these offers, the statement elaborated, the current employees would keep their defined benefit pension, job security provisions, health benefits and post-retirement benefits, vacation (up to seven weeks) and pre-retirement leave, cost of living allowance that protects against the effects of unforeseen inflation, and work schedules.

• Canada Post urged to end door-to-door mail delivery. What other countries have considered it?
• Canada Post turns down potential strike delay offer from union

Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here.

OTTAWA — The federal government has summoned Israel’s ambassador to Canada to explain why Israeli soldiers shot in the vicinity of a delegation of diplomats — including four Canadian representatives — touring the West Bank Wednesday.

“I spoke with Canada’s Head of Mission in Ramallah earlier today. I can confirm 4 of our personnel were part of the delegation in West Bank when the IDF fired shots in their vicinity. Relieved to know our team is safe,”

Foreign Minister Anita Anand

wrote on social media Wednesday afternoon.

“I have asked my officials to summon Israel’s Ambassador to convey Canada’s serious concerns. We expect a full investigation and accountability,” her statement continued.

On Wednesday morning, the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) confirmed that its soldiers had fired “warning shots” towards a delegation of individuals whom it claimed had strayed away from a pre-authorized route.

But the group was a diplomatic delegation with representatives from over a dozen countries including Canada, France, Italy, Germany and the European Union. The incident sparked widespread condemnation.

Videos of the incident circulating online show a delegation of dozens of foreign diplomats as well as West Bank and United Nations officials standing on a road blocked off by a large yellow gate in the West Bank city of Jenin Wednesday morning.

The video shows IDF soldiers suddenly firing their weapons in the vicinity of the group, which quickly dispersed back towards diplomatic and armoured vehicles parked around the corner.

The tour was organized by the Palestinian Authority and was authorized by Israel, according to foreign media reports. There were four Canadian representatives among the delegation, including the head of mission in Ramallah Graham Dattels.

In a statement, the IDF said it “regrets the inconvenience caused” by the incident and said it launched an inquiry after realizing that its soldiers had fired towards a diplomatic delegation.

“According to an initial inquiry, the delegation deviated from the approved route and entered an area where they were not authorized to be. IDF soldiers operating in the area fired warning shots to distance them away. No injuries or damages were reported,” t

he IDF wrote on social media

.

The claim that the delegation was in an unauthorized area is being met with skepticism within the Canadian government.

Representatives from France, Germany and Italy also expressed their outrage at the shots towards their diplomats and called on the Israeli government to explain itself.

“A visit to Jenin, in which one of our diplomats was participating, was fired upon by Israeli soldiers. This is unacceptable. The Israeli ambassador will be summoned to explain himself,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said in a statement.

The German Foreign Office “strongly” condemned the “unprovoked fire” and noted that it was lucky that “nothing more serious occurred.”

“The group was travelling in the West Bank in the course of its diplomatic work and in coordination with the Palestinian Authority and the Israeli army. The role of diplomats as independent observers on the ground is indispensable and in no way represents a threat to Israeli security interests,” read the statement.

The incident comes amid increasing pressure from countries like Canada, the United Kingdom and France for Israel to stop expanding its military operations in Gaza and restricting humanitarian aid into the territory.

The three countries released a joint statement on Monday threatening action against Israel if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not stop its military actions in Gaza.

In their statement, Prime Minister Mark Carney, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron cited the “intolerable suffering” unfolding in Gaza, calling the announcement Israel made the day before to allow basic quantities of food into the area “wholly inadequate.”

They demanded Israel’s government halt its military operations and for Hamas to release the remaining hostages taken captive when terrorists stormed into southern Israel in October 2023.

Tuesday, Israel’s ambassador to Canada Iddo Moed told National Post his country is “quite taken aback” by Canada’s threat.

“This is unprecedented,” Moed said. “This has never happened in the past and so this is why we are taken aback. That’s an understatement, I would say.”

National Post, with files from Stephanie Taylor.

cnardi@postmedia.com

• Israel ‘taken aback’ by Canada’s threat of action over war, wants Carney to visit: ambassador
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Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our politics newsletter, First Reading, here.