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Vol. 75/No. 25      July 11, 2011

 
Canada postal union ends strike
under gov’t back-to-work order
 
BY JOHN STEELE  
MONTREAL—The Canadian parliament voted to order 48,000 postal workers back to work June 25, 11 days after the government-owned Canada Post Corporation locked them out following nearly two weeks of rotating strikes by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) against a series of contract concession demands by the mail bosses.

The workers returned to work June 28 after the CUPW National Executive Board announced that it voted unanimously to respect the law, saying they feared the threat of heavy fines.

Immediately after the law was passed, postal workers on the picket line at the massive Canada Post sorting plant in St. Laurent near Montreal talked to the Militant.

“It’s an injustice and it’s disappointing,” said CUPW shop steward Daniel Valade, a postal worker for 12 years. “The government has taken away our fundamental rights. I think the union is weaker now, but the struggle will continue inside.”

“This has opened my eyes like never before,” said a forklift operator with 22 years seniority who requested his name not be used. “A whole generation of workers won’t have a future and later they will revolt.”

“Our union gave up without a fight. We need to go back to the spirit of ’65,” said Taryn Boudreau, a postal clerk for five and a half years. The CUPW was forged through an illegal strike in 1965 for the right of postal workers to unionize and strike.

Boudreau said she thought many younger workers like herself wanted to fight the back-to-work law.

The strikebreaking legislation imposes a four-year contract on the workers with pay increases lower than those presented in Canada Post’s final offer. Other issues have been submitted to binding arbitration where the arbitrator must choose between the final offer of CUPW and that of Canada Post. “The arbitrator’s hands are tied,” wrote the June 26 Globe and Mail. “Because the legislation requires him to take into account conditions at comparable postal services, the financial viability of Canada Post and the solvency ratio of the pension plan.”

The legislation was adopted by a vote of 158 to 113 with the New Democratic Party (NDP) and Bloc Quebecois members of parliament voting against. An NDP proposal to remove the wage provisions of the law was rejected by the Conservative Party majority.
 
 
Related articles:
Illinois: Rally backs Steelworkers locked out by Honeywell for 1 year
Public workers in Connecticut reject concessions
Teamsters march against lockout in Henry, Illinois  
 
 
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