LABOUR

Postal workers continue fight against Harper’s austerity

by Terry Theakston

As the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) continue strike actions across the country, the support of the general public becomes more and more crucial.

Messages to Members of Parliament by phone and e-mail or faxed petitions demanding pressure on Canada Post to negotiate a contract with the union representing 45,000 postal workers in the urban areas, will speed the return of mail delivery to all communities.

Tell them Canada Post needs to take its rollbacks off the table of demands during a time of economic recovery, and use the profits made by the publicly-owned corporation to ensure this federal government maintains and creates jobs which have decent livable wages and benefits, a pension which is secure, and healthy and safe working conditions.

Tell them to stop the media stunts designed to convince the public that one of the most affordable mail services in the world is in jeopardy, and that public sector unions are an obstacle to a stable economy.
Tell them we do not want to lower the standard of living for an entire generation of future workers.

Canada Post needs to remove its proposals for two-tiered wages and benefits which will only serve to widen the income gap for all workers. This precedent, if we do not stop it, will most certainly be followed by other employers long after other federal employees have been subjected to these attacks from Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his deficit-slashing austerity agenda.

The postal workers’ union has presented several reasonable proposals to the employer regarding commitments to staffing levels and better service to the public, and each time the response has been a flat “NO.”

Misinformation

In fact, before strike notice was even given at the end of May, Canada Post released a fake estimate to the media of what the union demands would cost taxpayers. When CUPW asked Canada Post how they arrived at these outrageous figures, they were not given any kind of explanation.

Canada Post released to the media partial figures of declining mail volumes, which were then widely reported as fact. Increased use of internet technology has in fact dramatically increased the volume of parcel mail.

In addition to this, subscriptions to magazines and other publications have increased. Advertising mail is also one of the core areas of profit for the crown corporation as well. And since the introduction of online billing, Canada Post reaps profits from the ePost service as well.

Canada Post is no dinosaur. And neither is CUPW. The union has never once suggested opposition to new technology. The union merely wants to ensure that faster machine sorting of mail results in a delivery method which does not injure the postal workers.

And given that so much profit will be made from the new technology, it seems reasonable that profits should be shared and not used towards federal deficit reduction, also known as cuts to services and jobs.

So the strike continues until the CEO of Canada Post, Deepak Chopra, clearly understands that CUPW is the sole bargaining agent for its members. He must stop bombarding postal workers with messages to challenge the existence of the union. Through the use of televised screens at the workplace, mailings, and a website, this so-called entrepreneur believes the real solution is to break the union.

This will not happen.

Chopra and his negotiators should seriously consider the issues before them and when there is a useful proposal on the table the union members will have their opportunity to decide on it.

The employer’s archaic approach has also unified postal workers in some respect. When strike notice was given the employer immediately cut off benefits to its workers, an unnecessary scare tactic. After a few days of rotating strikes temporary workers were all sent home.

Mail volumes everywhere dramatically dropped once the rotating strikes began, primarily due to a drop of customers not wanting to have their mail stuck in limbo. But alternative mail services cost three-times as much as the service delivered by CUPW members, and these customers will return once the dispute is over.

Showing your support for publicly owned postal services and demanding that Canada Post not engage in the race-to-the-bottom of living standards for workers in Canada is crucial if postal workers are to win their demands and fight off this austerity attack.