CUPW/UPCE-PSAC Special Needs Project - My daughter Madison is about to turn nine years old on May 13th. Madison has Down syndrome and has been through many challenges in her young life. She has already had two heart surgeries and there will be a third in the future. The Special Needs Project has been with Madison through it all. With the help of this program Madison is able to receive the extra stimulus she currently enjoys. I want to thank everyone involved in this project for the wonderful work you do. I’m including a picture of Madison so you can put a face to the little girl you have helped to blossom.
We’ll Never Stop Fighting for Social Justice - Last fall, the “Occupy” movement struck like a bolt out of a clear blue sky. After years of bail-outs for big corporations and austerity for everyone else, the discontent simmering under the surface in the United States boiled over. From the most unlikely of sources, Adbusters, an alternative magazine from Canada, came a call for 20,000 people to flood Wall St and stay there until major changes were made. Underlining the disparity between the haves and the havenots, the slogan was simple, yet powerful: “We are the 99%”
In early 1912, in the textile manufacturing centre of Lawrence, Massachusetts, over 20,000 workers walked out of the mills to protest a rollback in their already meagre pay. When the work week was reduced by law from 56 to 54 hours a week, the textile bosses cut back the workers’ wages to match. The massive walk-out, organized by the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), became known as the “Three Loaves Strike,” referring to what could be bought for the amount that wages were being cut, “The Singing Strike” because the songs of the IWW were being heard everywhere, and “The Bread and Roses Strike” because young women workers carried a banner with the slogan “We want bread and roses too.” The strike was begun and led by mainly immigrant women, creating unity and solidarity across ethnic, religious and cultural lines.
(Volume 10 • Number 1 • January 2012) A historic round of Rural and Suburban Mail Carriers (RSMC) negotiations is about to begin. This is CUPW’s first time going into RSMC negotiations with the right to strike. While much progress has been made since January 1, 2004 when this current agreement took effect, CUPW’s eventual goal is equality with the urban operations (UPO) bargaining unit. All three of the themes of this round of bargaining— fairness, respect, and progress—apply to our health and safety (H&S).
As you know, women’s struggle for equality is not over. We need to pursue our struggle for full representation in all spheres. This is a pivotal year for CUPW. Its two main bargaining units are in negotiations with Canada Post. After having been legislated back to work through an employer-dictated lockout, members of the urban unit are now at the mercy of an arbitrator who will decide between two final offers. The Harper Government has given the arbitrator a very restrictive mandate with very clear instructions. Is that the meaning of free collective bargaining?
The 2012 negotiations represent a historic opportunity to negotiate real parity between RSMCs and urban postal workers. For decades RSMCs have performed work which requires equivalent skill, effort and responsibility. Now, the time has come to obtain equal pay and the same benefits and working conditions as other postal workers. Now it’s time for fairness, respect and progress.
VOTE YES!! After five months of difficult and frustrating negotiations we need to send Canada Post management a strong message. “Drop your demands for concessions and address the Union’s proposals for equality, respect and a share of the benefits of automation. And do it now!”
In 1910, Clara Zetkin, the feisty German orator and activist, gave a speech at the International Socialist Women’s conference in Copenhagen. She proposed that “the socialist women of all nationalities will hold each year a Women’s Day, whose foremost purpose it must be to aid the attainment of women’s suffrage.” The first International Women’s Day (IWD) was held in March 1911. Originally known as International Working Women’s Day, the occasion celebrates women’s rights and gives us an opportunity to act for change. People all over the world still voice their demands for a better world on March 8th every year.
Negotiations continue between CUPW and CPC for 48,000 members in urban operations. These negotiations reflect the deep division which exists between the parties. While both parties agree that Canada Post faces future challenges because of the erosion of mail volumes, there are vast differences in the solutions being proposed by management and the union.
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.
Now that hearings for the Industrial Inquiry Commission are complete, we'd like to remind members of some important dates in the weeks ahead. Commissioner Kaplan’s final report to the Minister of Labour is due May 15. His report will give the Minister recommendations about how to resolve the issues in dispute in bargaining. It may also include recommendations about the structure and operations of Canada Post. We made our position clear throughout the hearings that these types of questions must only be dealt with in a fully public mandate review.
Postal workers are well aware that the planet is getting hotter. More and more, we are facing extreme events - such as an increasing number of wildfires with their toxic smoke, lethal heat domes and atmospheric rivers bringing more rain, more coastal storms and more flooding. But it’s children who are most at risk.
A federal election has now been called for April 28, 2025. Although the Canadian Union of Postal Workers does not endorse any party, we will be putting pressure on candidates from all parties to commit to defending our public post office and good stable jobs.
On Thursday, March 20, CUPW will join U.S. postal workers in a day of action to defend the public post office.
The United States Postal Service (USPS) is facing one of the most serious threats in its history. Postal worker jobs and unions, and the USPS’s public service mission are under assault by the Trump administration that seems to have one end goal in mind: privatization.
Following targeted testing in late 2024 and early 2025, the Canada Post MyMoney Account is now available nationwide. This marks a key step in expanding Canada Post’s financial services offerings.
On March 3rd and 4th, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) continued with its constitutional challenge before the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB).