Winnipeg Local President's Rousing Demo Speech!

GOOD AFTERNOON SISTERS & BROTHERS.

I WOULD LIKE TO START BY THANKING YOU FOR COMING OUT TODAY TO EXPRESS YOUR SOLIDARITY WITH POSTAL WORKERS AND OUR SISTERS & BROTHERS FROM AIR CANADA. 

WE APPRECIATE THE PRESENCE OF OUR ALLIES FROM THE COMMUNITY AND OUR COMRADES FROM THE LABOUR MOVEMENT.

I WANT TO OPEN MY REMARKS BY CONGRATULATING MEMBERS FROM THE CANADIAN AUTO WORKERS UNION FOR THEIR COURAGEOUS DECISION TO STAND UP AND FIGHT BACK AGAINST CORPORATE GREED.  AIR CANADA WOKRERS HAVE MADE MANY SACRIFICES IN THE PAST WHEN ASKED TO SUPPORT THEIR INDUSTRY AND KEEP THEIR EMPLOYER AFLOAT.

THE DEMANDS OF AIR CANADA TO TAKE AWAY MORE FROM YOU IS REPREHENSIBLE AND INTOLERABLE.  POSTAL WORKERS STAND WITH YOU IN YOUR DETERMINATION TO RESIST CONCESSIONS AND ROLL-BACKS AND YOU CAN COUNT ON OUR SUPPORT IN THE STRUGGLE AHEAD. 

NOW I WOULD LIKE TO SPEAK DIRECTLY TO OUR MEMBERS.  WE ARE ENORMOUSLY PROUD OF YOUR SOLIDARITY & DISCIPLINE OVER THE PAST SEVERAL MONTHS.  The new work methods in the plant and on the street are downright dangerous.  Forced overtime and unmanageable workloads have HAD A DEBILITATING IMPACT ON YOU AND YOUR FAMILIES AND LOVED ONES BUT YOU’VE STUCK TOGETHER.

YOU RESPONDED ENTHUSIATICALLY WHEN WINNIPEG WAS CALLED OUT TO BE THE FIRST CENTRE IN CANADA TO TAKE STRIKE ACTION TO TRY AND FORCE CANADA POST TO MOVE AT THE BARGAINING TABLE.  AS DIFFICULT AS IT WAS, YOU RETURNED TO WORK TO SERVE OUR CUSTOMERS WHILE THE EMPLOYER COMMENCED PROVOCATION IN THE WORKPLACE.  YOU RESISTED THE TEMPTATION TO WALK OUT AGAIN AND REMAINED DISCIPLINED IN SUPPORT OF THE STRATEGY OF OUR NATIONAL UNION.  YOU ARE TO BE CONGRATULATED FOR EVERYTHING YOU HAVE ENDURED.

WHAT AN INCREDIBLE EMPLOYER WE WORK FOR.  WHERE ELSE BUT AT CANADA POST WOULD YOU WITNESS THE EVENTS THAT WE’VE WITNESSED OVER THE LAST 13 DAYS.

WE SAW THE EMPLOYER REMAIN INTRANSIGENT ON THEIR DEMAND TO ABOLISH OUR WAGE PROTECTION PROVISIONS IN THE CONTRACT WHEN WE FALL ILL OR ARE INJURED ON THE JOB.  PROVSIONS WE HAVE HAD FOR OVER 40 YEARS.  WHO ELSE BUT CANADA POST WOULD DEMAND TO IMPLEMENT A CHEAP LABOUR STRATEGY ON THE NEXT GENERATION OF WORKERS WHILE THEY POSTED PROFITS FOR THE PAST 16 CONSECUTIVE YEARS AND PAY OUT GOLD PLATED BONUSES TO THOSE THAT CONTRIBUTE NOTHING TO THE PROCESSING AND DELIVERY OF  MAIL TO CANADIANS?

WHO ELSE BUT CANADA POST WOULD ABANDON SERVICE AND LOCK OUT LETTER CARRIERS THAT PROVIDE INVALUABLE SERVICE TO OUR RESIDENTIAL AND BUSINESS CUSTOMERS IN THE DOWNTOWN CORE AS THEY DID THIS TUESDAY?

WHO ELSE BUT CANADA POST WOULD THROW A TEMPER TANTRUM AND WHINE THAT AIR CANADA WAS GETTING SPECIAL LEGISLATION?  WHO ELSE BUT CANADA POST WOUILD IMPOSE A NATION WIDE LOCK-OUT WHEN WORKERS ALL ACROSS THE COUNTRY WERE PREPARED TO DELIVER ALL THE MAIL THAT WAS TRAPPED IN THE SYSTEM?  ACCORDING TO A RECENT CBC POLL OVER 60 PER CENT OF CANADIANS BELIEVE THAT CANADA POST WAS WRONG TO IMPOSE THEIR NATION WIDE LOCK-OUT.

THE PROBLEMS AT CANADA POST HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH OUR COLLECTIVE AGREEMENT AND EVERYTHING TO DO WITH A MANAGEMENT BODY THAT HAS FAILED IN THEIR OBLIGATION TO PROVIDE UNIVERSAL SERVICE TO THE PUBLIC.  THEY ARE DAMAGING OUR PUBLIC POST OFFICE AND NEED TO BE REMOVED. 

NOW TO MR. HARPER.

IT IS CLEAR WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE EVENTS THAT ARE UNFOLDING IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS OVER THE PAST 48 HOURS THAT WE ARE GETTING A TASTE OF THE EARLY STAGES OF HARPERS’ AGENDA FOR WORKING PEOPLE IN CANADA. 

IT IS INCREDIBLE THAT LABOUR MINISTER RAITT RAISED BACK TO WORK LEGISLATION FOR AIR CANADA STRIKERS WHEN THEY HADN’T EVEN BEEN ON THE PICKET LINES FOR A DAY.

ITS INCREDIBLE THAT THE GOVERNMENT IS GOING TO TABLE SPECIAL LEGISLATION TO END FREE COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AT CANADA POST WHEN MAIL DELIVERY WAS BEING MAINTAINED ACROSS THE COUNTRY UNTIL THE LOCK OUT ON TUESDAY NIGHT.

THIS IS A SIGN THAT THIS GOVERNMENT DOES NOT RESPECT THE DEMOCRATIC RIGHTS OF CANADIANS TO BARGAIN COLLECTIVELY AND TAKE STRIKE ACTION IF NECESSARY IN ORDER TO PROTECT THEMSELVES AND THEIR COMMUNITIES FROM THE GREEDY AGENDA OF BIG BUSINESS.

AS A LABOUR MOVEMENT AND AS CONCERNED CITIZENS WE MUST COMMIT TO OPPOSING THE HARPER AGENDA AND THOSE OF HIS CORPORATE BOSSES.

Symptom of a much larger malaise.

Has the internet made Canada's postal service obsolete? I don't think so.
The postal service is still the most universal, accessible, affordable, and
democratic distance-communication system we have in this country. However --
like public schools, public parks, and public health care -- it is not
essential to our most affluent citizens, and they're the ones who shape
public opinion through their newspapers, radio/television stations and, most
important, their political influence.
 
Not everyone has internet access. More than 3 million Canadian households
are without a home internet connection. Not included in that number are all
the men and women across Canada who are incarcerated in federal prisons and
provincial jails. They don't have internet access either. Their only
alternative to keeping in touch with their families through the mail is to
make expensive "collect" telephone calls.
 
One particularly positive prison program depends on the services of postal
workers. This program is known by its acronym, ChIRP, which stands for
Children of Inmates Reading Program. A volunteer records a parent reading a
carefully-selected book to his/her child. The book and CD recording are then
mailed to the child, who might live anywhere in Canada. Receiving such a
personal gift from the absent parent not only reassures the child that the
parent still cares, but also promotes a love of books and reading.
 
Mail service is also important to computer owners who refuse to do their
banking and bill-paying online.  Who can blame them, when government and
corporate computer systems being penetrated by hackers, and we're always
being warned about the hazards of identity theft.
 
Not everything can be done online. Hard copies of financial and legal
documents continue to be essential; and not everything works best online.
Studies have shown that reading from a screen typically takes 25 per cent
longer than reading from a printed page. Little wonder most people still
prefer the ease and portability of paper magazines -- delivered to
subscribers through the mail. Braille and recorded materials are delivered
free to the visually-impaired. Then there are all those items people order
online that have to be delivered in person.
 
The Fraser Institute -- a think tank supported by tobacco and oil companies,
among other free-market interests -- says Canada Post should be privatized.
Why?  Because there's money to be made, and that money could be going into
private coffers. But first, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers should be
neutralized, workers' wages and benefits reduced, and unprofitable
operations (rural and remote delivery) eliminated. As for working
conditions, the more intense the physical demands on the workers, the less
likely they are to stick around long enough to get pay increases and a
decent pension. Use 'em, abuse 'em, and lose 'em.
 
Canada Post's current lock out of its employees is merely one battle in a
larger war being waged against working people by the wealthiest business
magnates, whose overriding objective is to maximize their own profits.
Increasingly, Canada's wealth is being controlled by an elite few.
 
 
According to Toronto research agency Investor Economics, the richest 3.8 per
cent of Canadian households controlled 66.6 per cent of all financial wealth
(not counting real estate) by 2009, up from 60.6 per cent in 2005, just
before Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government came to power. Looking
ahead, the agency predicts the portion of financial wealth controlled by
this richest group of Canadians is headed for 70 per cent by 2018. (Les
Whittington, The Toronto Star, May 27, 2011).
Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz deplores this growing
inequality, which he sees as dangerously destabilizing.
"The more divided a society becomes in terms of wealth, the more reluctant
the wealthy become to spend money on common needs. The rich don't need to
rely on government for parks or education or medical care or personal
security -- they can buy all these things for themselves. In the process,
they become more distant from ordinary people, losing whatever empathy they
may once have had. They also worry about strong government -- one that could
use its power to adjust the balance, take some of their wealth, and invest
it for the common good." (Vanity Fair, May 2011)
Stiglitz warns that the kinds of uprisings seen recently in Egypt, Tunisia,
Syria Yemen, and Libya could be precipitated closer to home as the
middle-class standard of living is steadily eroded and citizens feel
increasingly excluded from policy decisions affecting their lives.
The current labour strife at Canada Post (and Air Canada) is a symptom of a
much larger malaise.

NATIONAL DAY OF ACTION IN SUPPORT OF CUPW LOCKED OUT WORKERS

Whereas the Harper Government is waging a full-out attack on workers' rights in Canada by implementing back-to-work legislation to end labour disputes; by abolishing defined-benefit pensions; by driving down wages; by cutting back sick-time benefits; and by rolling back women's rights, etc; and

Whereas the Canadian Union of Postal Workers is now under a nationwide lock-out, and are facing back-to-work legislation; and

Whereas the Canadian Auto Workers are on strike and facing back-to-work legislation;

Be it resolved that a National Day of Action of all Unions be organized immediately in communities to fight back in solidarity with the striking and locked-out unions to end Harper's attacks;

Be it further resolved that the New Brunswick Federation of Labour immediately call on all affiliates to support and participate in the National Day of Action;

Be it further resolved that New Brunswick Federation of Labour call on the CLC and all CLC affiliated unions to support and participate in the National Day of Action;

Be it further resolved that the National Day of Action be no later than June 23, 2011;

Submitted by: The Fredericton District Labour Council

Simply Genius action in Ottawa!

This morning, responding to a facebook call went to the Canada Post headquarters. Community members, students, solidarity groups, other unions, and cupw members proceeded to protest the lockout. Canada Post locked all entrances and then accused the union of keeping out workers. It was clear that the demonstrators had no intent on blocking PSAC, UPCE or other unionized members from doing their jobs. However, Canada Post, in usual style proceeded to lock their doors, effectively locking out more workers, and locking others in. Soon hundreds of workers appeared and waited for 1-2 hours, thanks to Canada Post. The police arrived and wanted to know who was in charge. But nobody was. This appeared on facebook …so I guess contact them!  The police said that now one could be kept inside and asked why we were blocking people from getting out…they seemed surprised when we told them it was Canada Post keeping them in. It seemed management had adopted the principle of nobody in – nobody out.

Also the head of labour relations John Thomas received an earful for his practice of destroying the lives of working people and their families. He tried to get away and looked to the cops to help protect him from being asked questions. They shrugged their shoulders. He remained silent as asked why Canada Post refuses to let letter carriers deliver cheques to seniors and why the plants are full of mail while they say they aren’t. Why are people cut off their medications?  How do you sleep at night? Do you tell you children what you do? He seemed unable to answer in spite of ample opportunity. Local radio had a microphone in his face but was picking up silence. BTW, Thomas is also the RSMC negotiator for Canada Post. Clearly, his dignity or what is left of it is buried someplace else. This seems to be a creatuire who operates in the dark.

And speaking of operations in the dark – there was a lot of pressure to let people into an adjoining building where other unionized workers unrelated to Canada Post –workers entered by showing their union cards – non-union personnel were redirected to go away. Once the CRA workers were in (after a long wait on the grounds thanks to management)  - Mgt tried to get entry for the CSE – Canadian Security Establishment…this organization essentially spies on people, snoops on electronic communications and are more secretive than CSIS. They are not friends of communities and postal workers but doing the secretive voyeuristic work of the new world order in lockstep with the National Security Agency in the U.S. This bunch data mines like crazy –with a kind of surveillance the old East German Stasi could only dream off.. Apparently they cannot identify themselves so someone said the police would do it before letting them in. That did not appear good enough for the protestors. Donald Lafleur said “I think the janitors are next” so the janitorial staff entered. Not surprisingly they were clearly new Canadians from Africa. How some things never change. It was no surprise that we did not see Caucasian males doing that work. The CSE types, whose ID we are not allowed to see made a very photogenic bunch I understand. When I asked their management rep who kept trying to get one what exactly CSE does – like “are you the people that data mine and go through our communications without permission” but she clammed up and didn’t seem willing to answer.

Thanks to all those that made this happen…I expect there will be more – and someday if this continues the government will have to realize we are back to before RAND formula times where workers will don’t ask permission to fix things, wait a year or two  before reinstatement, and take care of bad bosses and management on the spot.

In solidarity

DEAR ACTIVISTS:

Today, the Minister of Labour announced in the House of Commons that the Harper government would be introducing back to work legislation to end free collective bargaining between CUPW and Canada Post. 

Clearly, the Harper government is taking advantage of the crisis manufactured by Canada Post and their national lock-out of postal workers.  As a result of the Government’s announcement today, your Local Executive met and adopted the following plan for Thursday, June 16^th.

All members, from all installations and work sites to assemble at 1100 hours at 266 Graham Avenue for picketing and a rally against our employer and the Harper Conservative government. 

Those that are scheduled for picket duty on the midnight shift tonight will only picket from midnight until 0200 hours.  This will give them time to get home and rest then come to the event at 1100 hours.  Participation at tomorrow’s event will eliminate the need for the midnight shift members to picket tomorrow night.  As well, shift 3 members will not be required to picket at 1870 Wellington tomorrow due to this downtown picket and rally. 
 

We are in talks to co-ordinate this event with Canadian Auto Worker members that are on strike against Air Canada that will also be subjected to back to work legislation.

We also anticipate that we will be joined by members of the 800 member delegation of the Canadian Federation of Nurses Union that are conducting their national conference here.

Due to the urgency of the situation facing us, it is imperative that we put all of our energies and resources into an appropriate response to this vicious attack on the members and our Union.

We thank you in advance for making tomorrow a very memorable day for those that conspire against us.

Yours in Solidarity,

Darren Steinhoff

Acting Chief Steward

Collection & Delivery

Yesterday at the Post Office: Edmonton

                               June 15th 2011 By P. Gage
Last weekend Canada Post declared a series of service cuts that reduced the Letter Carrier work week down to three days a week. On the first day of the service cuts there were several early morning actions where hundreds of Letter Carriers showed up for work and demanded to deliver mail that had piled up inside their depots. In Edmonton several depots took this one step farther by sitting down inside the depot and refusing to leave. Several other depots rallied outside and marched around outside their workplaces.
Following these actions the Canadian Union of Postal Workers held a demonstration on Whyte Avenue where over 300 Postal Workers marched on Depot 9, one of the largest and most militant depots in the city. When the workers arrived at the depot they used the password on the door, which had not been changed, to storm the depot with camera phones in hand. Again the workers staged an occupation with management locking themselves in their office to hide from the angry mob. Workers with cameras photographed piles of mail stuffed into the depot exposing Canada Post Corporations lie that there was no mail to be delivered.
Workers banged on the walls to make noise, flipped over trash cans to use as drums and banged on metal racks with sticks. This episode went on for a while before the crowd retired to Gazebo Park down the road for speeches and a short rally. Although rowdy, the event was entirely non violent if not very confrontational. Many workers said afterwards that this day was the best moment of their lives, but the day was not even yet over.
Across town the facilities still operating were extremely tense with major confrontations reported with management across the board often involving groups of workers. As the afternoon wore on the public was told that the Air Canada Workers were about to be legislated back to work. Emboldened by this move and in retaliation for militant action across Canada by Postal Workers the Canada Post Corporation locked the CUPW out at 9:15pm.
As the workers filed out of the plant they noticed that about ten members of management were staying behind, many putting up tarps over the windows so no one could watch them operate mail equipment. Incensed the crowd went on to erect barricades out of metal construction fences at the back gates, they turned around any trucks coming in and parked a 5-ton Canada Post vehicle in the truck gate and padlocked the mail inside.
Several hours later the management team started sending their people out to go home. The pickets locked arms and chanted “no one in, no one out”. Management was informed that the workers sincerely hoped management had brought pyjamas. The bosses looked dejected.  Then the police arrived. They sincerely wanted to not have to intervene but said we couldn’t hold management forever and at some point it became unlawful confinement and suggested we open up negotiations.
The pickets decided that an apology was in order from the Labour Relations team and Senior Management. If one person from the top of the management team came out and announced to the crowd that they were sorry for disrespecting the picket line that evening and the previous week during the rotating strikes the workers would not stop them from crossing the line in order to leave.  Management categorically refused. Our next offer was to have them come out and walk through a small gap in our lines and board cabs waiting outside. Their personal vehicles were to remain outside and over 100 angry postal workers would see them off. We agreed on a path of travel, the crowd agreed to stick to where they were and heckle.
When management left the building they quickly veered to the right and made for a gap in the side of the building walking past their personal vehicles but not entering them. The police officer in charge was visibly displeased at them breaking the agreement. The crowd surged forward with camera phones in front jeering and heckling the bosses as they left the building. The event was rowdy but no one was even shoved, the workers remained disciplined, not by some outside force but by their own rank and file members giving each other encouragement.
This day was the high water mark in years of struggle for several militants in the Post Office and there is no doubt we will carry this story with us for the rest of our lives. But it is also just the beginning. Yesterday workers got a taste of their own power and made the first step towards taking back control over their own work. This won’t end with a new collective agreement and it will continue when we all walk back into the post office with our heads held high.

CUPW STATEMENT ON NATIONAL LOCK-OUT

The union will be holding a press conference at 11 am EDT at its national office and will be making additional statements then. 

The actions of CPC management in locking out postal workers nation-wide are irresponsible.  There is now a considerable amount of mail in the system that will not be delivered.  Canada Post is reneging on its responsibility to the public to deliver mail that has been paid for.

We committed to deliver pension and social assistance cheques and we intend to fulfil that commitment.  This is a totally counterproductive response to the Labour Minister’s request to resume operations.

Canada Post is claiming that it has lost $100 million. Their constant “No” at the bargaining table is costing them dearly. If they want to stop losing money, they need to negotiate instead of attacking their workers.

We have contacted the mediator to arrange an immediate meeting with Deepak Chopra. More to follow.

hell yeah!

Right on, brother! Well said. I have been a Letter Carrier for almost 30 years out here in Edmonton and have just about heard it all from Management, Media and Misguided Public. After all the threats of losing business, losing customers, losing our jobs, being disciplined, being privatized, being arrested and, oh yes, we are going broke and it is no longer economically viable to maintain these levels of wages and benefits in todays marketplace, I find 30 years later I am still here, you are still here,the corporation is still here,business,customers and our jobs are still here,we haven't been privatized, we have respectable wages and benefits yet we remain viable and are definitely not broke. Even 20 years ago I heard the Post Office is obsolete, no longer relevant, it's services, or lack there of, are no longer needed,required or wanted. Well, if that is truly the case, then why are the public and business so quick to scream for the Government to Legislate us back to work? All this rhetoric is the same during every round of negotiations or strike action. So much doom and gloom and scare tactics galore. Don't feed into it! So, to all those out there who aren't so young anymore- have you forgotten, when, all those years ago, you put your differences aside, stood shoulder to shoulder, and tore to shreds anything they threw at you. Remember that? Remember the pride, confidence, and comradeship you felt fighting side by side on the Picket Line stomping scabs, buses and tractor-trailers alike. Remember, later on the workfloor, the unity and strength we had. To all you youngsters out there, Management has subversively initiated a campaign of rumours, and I have even heard it said, fibs as well. This campaign is designed to confuse you and with the help of a few pro management workers on the Workfloor, start a debate which is designed to create division within the ranks. So relax, ignore the crap. Talk to senior members. Each of them has a wealth of information. All you have to do is get them talking and telling stories, then sit back, be entertained and learn. However be forewarned there is no off button. To all of you- we can't afford to be divided at this critical time, so support the Union. And for those of you who find that hard to do, then at least support your fellow workers because this is the single most important thing we can do.

Do we listen to back to work legislation?? comments are welcome!

Totalitarianism (or totalitarian rule) is a political system where the state, usually under the power of a single political person, faction, or class, recognizes no limits to its authority and strives to regulate every aspect of public and private life wherever feasible.^[2] Totalitarianism is usually characterized by the coincidence of authoritarianism (where ordinary citizens have less significant share in state decision-making) and ideology (a pervasive scheme of values promulgated by institutional means to direct most if not all aspects of public and private life).^[3]
Totalitarian regimes or movements stay in political power through an all-encompassing propaganda disseminated through the state-controlled mass media, a single party that is often marked by personality cultism, control over the economy, regulation and restriction of speech, mass surveillance, and widespread use of state terrorism.

TELLING IT LIKE IT IS!!

Jacques Cote

Chief Operating Officer

Canada Post Corporation

Dear Colleague

Thank you for your letter dated June 13,2011.

There was no need to try and explain the corporation’s decision to not reinstate the collective agreement in exchange for the suspension of the union’s rotating strike.  The truth is that we know the corporation does not and has not any intention of trying to reach a negotiated settlement.

For the last 6 months the Union has been essentially negotiating with itself.  Now you are trying to provoke a nation wide strike by taking away our benefits, drastically reducing service to the public, and refusing to go back to the bargaining table. 

You stated that our customers need to be able to count on the company being functional and reliable.  We certainly agree with you on that point, however can you explain how de-grading our sick leave benefits and reducing wages and benefits for new hires will allow the company to be more functional and reliable ?

The fact is that  our current postal system has been neither functional nor reliable, and has not been since Modern Post was implemented.  This has nothing to do with our wages and benefits.  It has everything to do with this corporation being married to a plan that is not working.

Perhaps if you didn’t buy every letter carrier a car, and every plant worker two shopping carts ( IDCs) each, you would have more of the money you desire.

If Modern Post is going to work you are going to need our cooperation not contempt.  Perhaps you should change your way of thinking and focus on building as opposed to destroying. 

You also stated that you are not  reinstating the collective agreement because it does not provide flexibility to adjust your costs to the volume loss you are experiencing.  It is  obvious that you are grossly exaggerating the volume loss.  Today letter carriers were not allowed to deliver their routes because of this so-called “ volume loss “, and will not deliver on Thursday as well.

You may not be able to see this far from your oak desk in Ottawa, but volumes are normal in Winnipeg and employees have reported mail piled up in the depots waiting to be delivered.  This is delay of mail Mr. Cote.  You have fired many employees for delay of mail.

You can try to rationalize and spin your refusal to participate all you want.  You are not fooling anyone.  We strongly urge YOUR leadership (who ever that may be ; haven’t heard from Mr. Chopra in a month)  to get back to bargaining.  If you truly want a negotiated settlement now, then it might be a good idea to show up to the table.

Just Saying