'This is scab labour and the city and the territory as a whole should not be participating in that at all'
The Canadian Union of Postal Workers’ (CUPW) Whitehorse local is calling for an investigation into the City of Whitehorse’s use of municipal staff to deliver mail during last year’s Canada Post strike.
Mac Clohan, CUPW’s Whitehorse president, raised the issue at a city council meeting, claiming city employees delivered public notices during the nationwide postal strike, according to a CBC report.
This is a breach of labour rights, he said.
"This is scab labour and the city and the territory as a whole should not be participating in that at all," he said, according to the report.
The Canada Post strike – which began in mid-November 2024 – lasted four weeks after negotiations between the postal workers’ union and the corporation stalled over wages, benefits, and worker safety. In December, the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) ordered striking employees to return to work.
During the strike, some Whitehorse residents received notices about a public hearing for a proposed zoning amendment. Clohan alleged these notices were delivered by city planning department employees and were individually addressed and sealed in envelopes, resembling mail, according to CBC.
The city, however, referred to the material as “flyers” and said staff had volunteered to distribute them.
"I'm not trying to attack anybody, I'm not here going out for blood… I just think that lapses of judgment did occur," Clohan told councillors, according to CBC.
"What I am hoping that my presence here today can move forward is an investigation that would lead to this educational opportunity."
Previously, CUPW accused Canada Post of using layoffs as a "scare tactic" amid the strike.
Clohan wants the investigation to privately identify the manager or managers who instructed city workers to deliver the notices, as well as the workers themselves, according to the report. Then, representatives or stewards from the Yukon Employees' Union would be able to speak to them about appropriate conduct during a strike as well as their rights and the rights of striking workers.
Councillor Dan Boyd noted that the issue had been addressed during a special city council meeting on Dec.12, 2022. At that meeting, council approved alternative methods for notifying residents about public hearings and specifically prohibited city staff from delivering notices by hand, according to the report.
"Your point was loudly heard and there was some correction made so that, you know, it shouldn't happen again," Boyd told Clohan.
But that wasn’t enough to address, Clohan said, to address what he viewed as a broader labour rights issue.
"There are a lot of unions in this town – CUPW's not the only one – and if the city management is willing to use scab labour to advance their interests when we're on strike, then who's to say they won't use scab labour to advance their interests when some other bargaining group is on strike?" he said.
Clohan said he has been communicating with city officials about the incident, alleging that the city has refused to initiate the requested investigation.
"Nothing further is planned at this time," City spokesperson Matthew Cameron said about the matter, according to CBC.
In 2023, several unions looked for members who crossed the picket lines while the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) was on strike.
Canada’s anti-scab legislation – Bill C-58, An Act to amend the Canada Labour Code and the Industrial Relations Board Regulations, 2012 – received royal assent in June 2024.
