A Postal Worker on Parliament Hill

A CUPW activist who was elected Member of Parliament in the recent federal election recently paid a visit to our National Office.

Meeting with Karine Trudel at National Office                                         

 Presenting Karine Trudel with the ‘Return to Sender’ post-election CMB cartoon from the Chronicle-Herald

Letter carrier Karine Trudel (MP – Jonquière) is former president of our CUPW Local #390 in Saguenay-Lac St. Jean, a position she held for eight years. With support from our members and her community, she was successfully elected as the New Democratic Party candidate in her riding. She has just been named as the critic for Canada Post by the NDP. It’s good to see somebody who knows our work firsthand playing such a role.

On December 1^st, Sister Trudel was warmly welcomed by the CUPW National leadership, including the National President, Vice-Presidents, Chief Negotiators, and campaign Coordinators. Look for coverage, including an interview, in the next issue of CUPW Perspective.

We believe Sister Trudel is the first postal worker ever elected to Parliament. Hopefully she will not be the last. We wish her all the best in her position!

CUPW v. the Harper Conservatives

While we haven’t done an in-depth analysis of the outcome of the federal election compared with our Save Canada Post campaign, the results show that in 10 Conservative ridings we targeted for particular attention, the Conservative incumbent lost his/her seat every time. Unfortunately, 3 of the 4 ridings we targeted in Québec went Conservative. The good news is that the riding that didn’t go Conservative was Sister Trudel’s riding, Jonquière.

Of course, CUPW was active in every riding across the country, helping to turf the Conservatives. These are the politicians who attacked our public postal service and the jobs of our members. They will not be missed.

Four Major Priorities Lie Ahead

We’ll keep pushing for a permanent halt to home delivery cuts and the restoration of home delivery to everyone who has lost it since the cuts were announced in December 2013.

We’ll also be pushing the Liberals to hold a public review of Canada Post. They promised a review and we want to ensure it’s held with public input, including rural citizens, seniors and persons with disabilities.

Also, postal banking needs to be on the table for Canada Post. We are campaigning on this issue to raise public awareness and to make it a real possibility for the future.

And last, but certainly not least, our Urban Unit and RSMC negotiations are starting. We will need to show our determination and keep the momentum from the Save Canada Post campaign going strong!

In solidarity,