A Minority Government Workers Can Leverage

CUPW buckled down and made a strong showing in our 2019 federal election campaign. We mobilized workfloors and engaged locals and members with the Delivering Community Power vision. Our coordinators did all they could to inform our members on the issues that affect our work, and get out the postal worker vote. Now we have the results!

Not Like 2015

This was a significant push, but a very different   strategy from the 2015 election campaign. In 2015, we were committed to being a part of the movement to drop the Harper government, which was overseeing an agenda to cut jobs and working conditions at Canada Post. We made the cuts our focus, raised public support, found our allies, and pushed until it became an election issue.

In 2019

This year was more complicated. We don’t face the same losses in terms of services and jobs, but we still have some urgent issues. While we’re not fighting to save jobs from cuts in the short term, we have a bit more space to turn our minds to the future. That’s what Delivering Community Power is about, as well as our constant vigilance on pensions, privatization/deregulation, and collective bargaining rights.

Outcomes

Majority governments legislated us back to work in 2011 and 2018. We can expect the new Liberal minority government to be held in check regarding collective bargaining rights. Having 121 Conservative MPs in official opposition, the Liberals will have to cooperate somewhat with the other parties in the house.

The parties who heard our message and committed to our vision during the campaign – the NDP, the Bloc Québecois, and the Green Party – are all in a good position to influence this minority government.

We should have better conditions than ever to work on service expansion (including postal banking), cutting greenhouse gas emissions, and turning to renewable energy to power the post office of the future.

It also means a lot to us that the People’s Party of Canada was rejected by the electorate, as we want to resist the spread of divisive, climate-change-denying populism in our political discourse.

We believe we’re all stronger when we focus on the things that unite us. That goes for whole societies just as it does for unions.

We encourage members to stay on the issues, and get involved! You can see from our report card on the parties that we have many issues that you might be passionate about, and there are as many ways to engage with CUPW.

Above all, if you’ve followed the election results you know this is not the time to disengage. Your political power does not begin and end with voting. We need to put pressure on the newly-elected MPs, especially those who committed to our vision on the campaign trail, to follow-through on their promises. If you’re ready to work on any of our issues, please talk to a shop steward or local executive. You are the union’s strength.

In solidarity,