Breaking strikes worsens the affordability crisis

When the Canadian federal government breaks strikes with back-to-work legislation, it’s not just striking workers who lose—it’s all of us.  

The decision to force Canada Post workers back to work undermines collective bargaining, the legal framework through which workers have historically won better wages, safer working conditions, and dignity on the job. The Liberal move signals a dangerous allegiance to corporate profits over the rights of workers and threatens to worsen the economic inequalities at the heart of the affordability crisis. 

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) has a storied history of fighting for better conditions, not only for its members but for workers across the country. It was a 42-day CUPW strike in 1981 that first won the right to paid parental leave—a benefit now enjoyed by countless families and taken for granted as a fundamental right. Without the union’s ability to strike, Canada Post management could have simply refused to bargain, and parental leave would not have been won.   

Similarly, striking CUPW workers today are fighting for the entire working class, not just for postal workers. By resisting Canada Post’s plans for a two-tiered workforce – one that treats full-time permanent staff and part-time or temporary workers differently –  postal workers are insisting that all workers should have access to stable jobs with decent pay and benefits. But when the Liberal government intervened to end the strike, it sent a clear message to the corporate class that their interests are more important than job security or living wages for workers.  

The right to strike is not just a worker issue—it is a cornerstone of democracy. Most Canadians spend the majority of their adult lives at work, where they typically have little influence on their working conditions. Unions are a vehicle for workers to extend the practice of democracy to the workplace by negotiating over priorities and how work should be done. Collective bargaining is enshrined in Canadian law as the framework that unions use to practice workplace democracy, and that includes the right to strike, which is guaranteed in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Forcing postal workers back to work rather than demanding that Canada Post negotiate in good faith upholds corporate power and weakens democracy.   

In addition to curtailing the rights of workers, the Liberal government’s decision to legislate postal workers back to work reveals a profound misunderstanding of our political moment. As affordability worsens, and precarious, low-wage work becomes the norm, Canadians are not calling for more protections for corporate bottom lines.  

While the Liberals claim to be acting in the interests of the people who have been negatively impacted by the postal strike, it’s clear that strike-breaking ultimately serves the interests of corporations at the expense of working people. Without the ability to strike, workers have little leverage against a corporate class with deep pockets and political connections. Income inequality and the cost of living crisis haves reached crisis proportions in this country not because workers have too much power but because they have too little.  

Following the resignation of Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, Trudeau’s government is in precarious condition, and an early federal election looks increasingly likely. With Poilievre capturing the mood of public discontent and riding high in the polls, the Conservatives appear poised to form a majority government. Despite their populist rhetoric, the Conservatives are an anti-worker party that serves the interests of large corporations. By weakening the right to strike on the eve of a federal election, Trudeau is paving the way for further attacks on unionized workers.   

When we allow governments to break strikes when they become inconvenient, the rights of all workers are weakened. CUPW’s fight is about upholding a standard for what decent work looks like in this country. If this government truly wants to address the affordability crisis and the economic struggles facing Canadians, it should start by respecting the rights of workers to organize, bargain collectively, and strike.