It takes guts to be a RSMC. It takes guts to be a RSMC if you’re a woman. I am a RSMC and, like 66% of RSMCs, I am a woman. I know the highs and lows of this job.
The Union continues to move forward with our ambitious plan to unite all postal sector workers into one strong postal union, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers.
On the evening of October 4th 2009, we stood with friends holding candles in the darkness on Parliament Hill. We were attending the Sisters in Spirit Vigil, one of 72 gatherings across the country to honour the lives of missing and murdered Aboriginal women and girls. Women came together to remember, to grieve and to share their stories of personal loss. Families held up pictures of their loved ones and spoke of their unending pain.
New equipment under Modern Post - In the Fall 2008 issue of Our Health Our Safety, we published “Health and Safety and the Modern Post.” Since then, we’ve obtained more information about the type of equipment Canada Post intends to purchase to carry out its “postal transformation.” A CUPW delegation also visited the Toshiba plant in the Tokyo area to review the new mail sorting equipment. Below you’ll find a preliminary overview of this equipment.
(Our Health Our Safety • Volume 7 • Issue 1 • Summer 2009) An increasing amount of research has been published that suggests a link exists between night work and cancer. In several major studies, researchers have found that workers on the night shift show increased rates of cancer. The research Workers with atypical work schedules show a higher risk of developing cancer than people in the general population, according to research published by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), an agency of the World Health Organization, in the December 2007 issue of The Lancet Oncology Medical Journal. A team of 24 scientists found that atypical working hours disturbed the body’s internal biological clock, which could be one cause for the appearance of cancer. They argued that more study was needed on this issue to confirm the cause and effect relationship.
Bike messengers and car couriers protested outside Courrier Rapide on March 26th with a clear message to their employer: Une convention collective, ça presse! CUPW received a bargaining unit certificate on June 21, 2007 yet there’s still no signed collective agreement. Courrier Rapide management refuses to bargain in good faith. CUPW is now trying some more creative means to force Courrier Rapide to negotiate, including this demonstration outside their office. There’s more to come if they won’t budge!
Support Postal Banking - Download and Sign the Petition
Canada needs a postal bank. Thousands of rural towns and villages in our country do not have a bank, but many of them have a post office that could provide financial services. As well, nearly two million Canadians desperately need an alternative to payday lenders. A postal bank could be that alternative. Download and sign the petition urging the Government of Canada to instruct Canada Post to add postal banking, with a mandate for financial inclusion.
June 21, National Indigenous Peoples Day, we honour the histories, cultures, resistance, and ongoing contributions of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Peoples across Turtle Island. This is a day to celebrate Indigenous resurgence and to reflect on the responsibilities we all carry as people living and working on Indigenous lands.
Today, May 30, CUPW met with Patty Hajdu, Minister of Jobs and Families, and John Zerucelli, Secretary of State for Labour. It was our second meeting with them since they were appointed to their positions after the federal election.
At the meeting, we shared our thoughts and concerns about negotiations and the recent global offers from Canada Post. We were assured that the Minister would continue to play an intermediary role in the bargaining process but will not intervene at this time.
Media Advisory -
OTTAWA - Canada Post’s plan will result in sweeping changes to our public postal system’s regulatory framework. The Corporation’s most recent contract offers to CUPW don’t drop its proposed rollbacks. When combined, this is sure to result in service and job cuts.
Wildfire season is early again this year. Fires are already raging in the northern part of the Prairies, in some Eastern provinces and in more isolated locations across the country. This is simply a reminder that we need to be ready to respond when such a situation arises again this year. In fact, some communities in Manitoba have received evacuation notices, and it is very likely that others will have to be evacuated over the coming weeks. In some part of Canada, the winter was mild with very little precipitation, increasing the risk of outbreaks. Therefore, we must once again be vigilant and ready to take the necessary measures to ensure everyone’s safety.
On May 28, Canada Post released its annual report for 2024. The Corporation posted a loss before tax of $841 million, continuing a pattern of financial losses since 2018. Canada Post puts the blame for the scale of its losses to several factors
Today, May 28, Canada Post presented what it calls its “best and final” offers for both the RSMC and Urban bargaining units.
While Canada Post insists that its offers reflect the Union’s demands from our May 25 proposal, there are almost no changes from what the Employer put forward on May 21. There's no question: Canada Post is not negotiating. Canada Post is playing hardball.
Application deadline: June 30, 2025 - On the fifth anniversary of the passing of Sister Megan Whitfield, CUPW is honoured to offer the Megan Whitfield bursary, two financial awards to encourage aspiring trade union activists to continue the important work Sister Whitfield started before her life was cut short.
The Union has now heard back from Canada Post through the federal mediators. The Employer has proposed to return to the bargaining table Wednesday (May 28) to provide the Union with a response to our latest proposals.
Union negotiators and the National Executive Board spent the last few days, and nights, reviewing the Employer’s last offers and preparing responses to issues in the offers and issues important to the Union that the Employer failed to acknowledge.
Today, May 23, is the first day of a nationwide overtime ban. As of 12:01 a.m. today, members were called on to refuse to work more than eight hours a day and more than 40 hours a week. This is a legal strike action and all CUPW members must follow this direction.