Lorenz said that while the strike started last year to fight for better wages and improved working conditions, they are now fighting to keep services running. Photo: Lauryn Mackenzie / CHLY 101.7fm

Nanaimo Postal Workers are back to the picket lines, continuing the strike they started late last year.

This follows the federal government's announcement on Thursday, September 25, of major reforms to Canada Post. At the Thursday announcement, federal Public Works Minister Joël Lightbound, who also oversees Canada Post, called on the postal company to end door-to-door services and close many of its rural postal offices.

The announcement was met with outrage from the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW), who followed with a call for a nationwide strike.

While postal workers are now back on the picket lines for the first time since December last year, Shane Lorenz, President of CUPW Local 786, said the strike never truly ended when they were forced back to work.

“We are still on strike,” Lorenz said. “So basically, we were forced back to work in December, but we weren't given a resolution to our dispute.”

CHLY met with Lorenz outside Canada Post’s Nanaimo distribution facility, where many of the workers were striking.

Postal workers first went on strike in November 2025, and after a month of strike action, the Canada Industrial Relations Board ordered the workers back to work.

Lorenz said that while the strike started last year to fight for better wages and improved working conditions, they are now fighting to keep services running.

“Our concern is that this is now affecting all Canadians, not just postal workers, and that's why we're back on the line to bring attention to what's really happening here,” he said.

He said they are concerned that if Canada Post stops door-to-door delivery and starts closing down rural post offices, it is going to affect Canadians who rely on Canada Post to send and receive their mail.

He said that in Nanaimo, residents in the city will see the effects of the closure of door-to-door delivery.

“Nanaimo is probably about 50 per cent door-to-door delivery,” he said. “So yes, it will impact Nanaimo dramatically.”

According to the federal government, ending door-to-door service will save Canada Post $400 million annually.

Lorenz said while some people may think that the post office is not that relevant anymore, Canada Post and its post offices are still critically important to all Canadians.

He said if changes to door-to-door services or rural offices are made now to save a little money, in the long run, it will end up costing more for Canadians to send and receive mail.

“I'm worried that once we open the window to losing home delivery, there's going to be many, many more things to come,” Lorenz said. “I'm just worried what that will look like for all Canadians, and I think Canadians should have a say in what's happening to their public service.”

If door-to-door services are cancelled, people would need to receive their mail from community mailboxes. According to the postal union, 4 million addresses across the country would be expected to switch to community mailboxes. Lorenz also stressed other unconsidered benefits of door-to-door service:

“I mean, there are a lot of people who love having door-to-door delivery. There's a benefit to all to having a postal worker in your community. Walking through your community every day, we notice things that other people don't because we're in the same area,” he said. “We've rescued dogs, we've rescued elderly people who have fallen down in their homes. We've saved people from fires, smoke coming out of one side of the building, alerting the people on the other side of the building, ‘hey, there's a fire.’ There are all kinds of situations in which postal workers have shown a benefit to the community overall, as well as delivering the mail.”

Lorenz said that, as Canada Post hasn't come to the bargaining table at all this year, they will continue to strike until a resolution can be reached, unless the federal government once again forces them back to work.

“I mean, we don't want that, but I think really, that is truly the only resolution to the outstanding labour dispute,” he said. “Now our concern is that we want Canadians to know what's really happening here. The post office is being changed by the government without any feedback from Canadians themselves.”

In a statement issued Thursday, September 25th, Canada Post expressed disappointment in the union’s decision to go back to striking, which will “further deteriorate Canada Post’s financial situation.”

Canada Post said all mail and parcel deliveries will be paused for the duration of the strike.

Funding Note: This story was produced with funding support from the Local Journalism Initiative, administered by the Community Radio Fund of Canada.