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CUPW Strike 2
June 18, 2011 - 12:46am
next...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=91zCUms-yeY#at=56
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w512u77qrDs
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
..from the wpg blog
http://www.theworkerstrugglewiththemodernpost.blogspot.com/
..i agree with you sven. but i maintain that corporations need the mail and strikes affect corporations much more than they affect most people.
ETA: small businesses can get caught in the middle of this as well. that still doesn't justify violating the right to strike. legislation giving the right to strike to postal workers was to avoid the internal actions and wildcats that were taking place in the 60's. a way of getting back control over the workers.
..more rallies
Ottawa
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vb9C-h4UUCs&NR=1
Toronto Young New Democrats - Canada Post Strike 2011 - CUPW Kitchener Picket Linehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LX_iGh89HKg&NR=1
J C Parrot
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDjVGsQcYbA
Prince George rally in support of CUPW
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zb7-qf5OiB0&NR=1
..plus rebel postiehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2fSCBHAy64&feature=related
http://www.cupw.ca/index.cfm/ci_id/13263/la_id/1.htm
eta: CUPW RallyCome to a CUPW Rally at noon on Saturday, 2011 June 18 at the Vancouver Public Library – Main Branch, 345 Robson Street. Bring your union banners and other forms of support.
The Strike of 1965 (Part 1)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqcdmUda7hA
(Part 2)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnfCxWq1lKM&feature=related
(Part 3)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QU26A-wW0QM&feature=related
(Part 4)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c55FkR4yJXU
(Part 5)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQnbPN7gkjs
fyi WSWS on the strikes
Canadian Unions Move to Suppress Strikes and Impose Concessions - by Keith Jones
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2011/jun2011/cana-j18.shtml
"Bowing before the Conservative government, the trade unions and trade union supported New Democratic Party (NDP) have moved to shut down two national anti-concession strikes involving more than 50,000 workers. As for the Canadian Labour Congress and the NDP, they issued not even pro-forma statements of support of the postal workers struggle until the Conservatives moved to criminalize it...
The unions and the NDP have lurched massively to the right and integrated themselves ever more with big business. While the unions serve as secondary enforcers for management, imposing concessions and suppressing strikes, the NDP has helped dismantle the social welfare programs it once held up as proof capitalism could be reformed..,"
....legislation can be brutal. in 87' the govt, knowing that cupw was capable of defiance, inserted massive fines for the national, the locals and individual members into the legislation. if that was not enough they removed union officials from their posts and in effect took over the national and local branches of cupw. so posties went back to work. in '87, like today, need support or they would be crushed. who's purpose would that serve?
..this article doesn't deal with that reality. postal workers do not want to nor are they going to run headlong into senseless battles that risks everything they have ever fought for, the livelihoods and their union. cupw is one of the most democratic unions around. i know this because i've belonged to a few and worked within the labour movement. posties are also very active and outspoken at the local level and for this article to suggest that they are being manipulated by the national office suggests that jones doesn't understand the strong democratic movement within cupw.
actually if you've a mind to, you might wish to send a response back to Keith Jones on these omissions they usually print/respond. Appreciate these updates too epaulo. In sol!
..txs for the suggestion ndpp. and it's totally my pleasure to do this. in sol!
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....
http://theworkerstrugglewiththemodernpost.blogspot.com/2011/06/simply-genius-action-in-ottawa.html
..funny stuff
CPC gives CUPW's global offer careful consideration.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQ4Lfqy_Ukg
Students show solidarity with CUPW, Gatineauhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skie0uiRWuA
Click here for the full list of upcoming events...
* All times are local time.
eta: Updated
Collective bargaining rights at risk
NDP vows to fight back-to-work legislation for postal workersBy Althia Raj And Beatrice Fantoni, Postmedia News June 19, 2011
Quote:
"We will use the parliamentary tools that we have at our disposal in order to see the legislation fully debated," party leader Jack Layton said in Vancouver, where the NDP is holding its national convention. "We don't agree with the approach (Prime Minister Stephen Harper) is taking here."
NDP national director Brad Lavigne had earlier said the party believes the federal government's back-to-work legislation is "quite biased toward the employer" and the right to collective bargaining will be strongly defended by the party when MPs return to work Monday.
"It is something obviously here at the convention is capturing the passions of the membership," Lavigne said.
Read more: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/business/Collective+bargaining+rights+risk/4970876/story.html#ixzz1PkJEscaF
Quote: Labour Minister Lisa Raitt will introduce the bill in the House of Commons after the conclusion of question period at 3 p.m. Little else can be done on the bill Monday, which is an "opposition day" in the House with debate controlled by the NDP.
A vote is unlikely to take place until Thursday, the last scheduled day of the session before the House is to rise for the summer. The opposition NDP has threatened to use parliamentary tactics to delay the vote, but Government House Leader Peter Van Loan said Monday the House will remain in session until the bill is passed, even if it has to sit on Saturday....
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/story/2011/06/20/postal-legislation-monday.html
June 20, 2011 - 14:00
Urban Postal Unit Negotiations (2011) / Bulletin
Negotiations Bulletin no. 72
Contrary to the CPC media spin there was no scheduled meetings between the parties this weekend. It is obvious that CPC management is waiting for the back-to-work legislation that they wanted so badly.
CPC's Offer: Less Than NothingFrom the very beginning of negotiations, CPC set the stage by demanding drastic rollbacks. From current employees they wanted to end the WCB top-up for injured workers, replace employer-paid retiree benefits with a health care spending account, abolish the seventh week of annual leave and eliminate sick leave and impose a short-term disability plan. For new hires they wanted weaker job security, fewer benefits, a worse pension and a much lower starting pay rate. During the negotiations they dropped some of their rollbacks, but they never addressed any of the union's demands concerning staffing, health and safety and working conditions. Throughout the process they made offers on issues such as staffing, bar charts and householders only to withdraw them. Their final offer still contains many rollbacks and no significant improvements.
A Dishonest Strategy To Obtain LegislationIn order to set the stage for back-to-work legislation management engaged in a series of media stunts. First they claimed that our demands would cost $1.4 billion. They refused to explain or justify this figure, but it got them the headlines they wanted. To portray themselves in a crisis they invented the figure of a 17% reduction in overall mail volumes since 2006. They ignored the fact that 2009 was a record year for profits. To create the appearance of an emergency they claimed that our rotating strike had reduced volumes by 50% and cost them $70 million. The same day they raised the figure to $100 million. When everything failed they locked us out to give the government a pretext to pass legislation.
Two Very Different StrategiesUnlike CPC we never attacked the postal system or stopped providing service to the public. Our one-day rotating strikes were designed solely to pressure the employer to negotiate. Before CPC stopped all postal service and locked us out, only 51% of the population had experienced any direct impact of our rotating strikes. People were still using the postal service in the knowledge their mail would arrive, perhaps a day later than usual. CPC's action ended all of this. They attacked the postal service to pressure the government to legislate: something the Conservative government was only too happy to do.
Our Struggle ContinuesIn locals across the country postal workers are participating in rallies and meeting with politicians to try and stop this unnecessary, unjust, and counter-productive legislation. We demand the right to negotiate and the right to strike. We continue to receive tremendous support from the labour movement, the NDP, and many community allies, including students, women's groups, pensioners and anti-poverty organizations. Whatever happens in the upcoming days we will never give up the struggle for our rights.
The Struggle Continues.
In solidarity,
Denis Lemelin
National President and Chief Negotiator
http://www.cupw.ca/index.cfm/ci_id/13300/la_id/1.htm
NDP vows to hold up Canada Post back-to-work legislation
The Conservative government introduced back-to-work legislation Monday aimed at ending the lockout at Canada Post.
The legislation, if passed, would allow an independent arbitrator to choose between the final offer from management and the final offer from the union.
The arbitrator's decision would be binding.
Quote: Postal workers are marching at a number of rallies across the country from Kamloops, B.C., to Labrador City, N.L., to gain public support for their cause.
Workers and their supporters in Vancouver, Edmonton and Winnipeg also said they occupied the offices of Conservative MPs this morning.
“We've done everything in our power to achieve a negotiated settlement with as little disruption to the public as possible,” Mike Palacek, a postal worker from Vancouver, said in a news release.
“Canada Post's response has been to suspend all of its services, lock us out, and wait for back-to-work legislation.”
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/tories-table-legislation-to...
Why is everyone calling this a strike?
..your right of course. it began as a rotating strike that turned into a lockout.
June 20, 2011 - 19:30
Urban Postal Unit Negotiations (2011) / Media Release
For Immediate Release
OTTAWA – The federal government’s back-to-work bill penalizes postal workers and rewards Canada Post for locking out employees and stopping mail delivery nationwide.
The bill legislates wage increases that fall significantly below Canada Post’s last offer. Canada Post’s last offer was 1.9% in 2011, 2012 and 2013, and 2.0 % in 2014, well below the 3.3% rate of inflation. The Tories’ bill would lower that even further with 1.75 % in 2011, 1.5% in 2012, 2% in 2013 and 2% in 2014.
“Imposing wage increases that are lower than Canada Post’s last offer punishes postal workers for a disruption that was caused by the corporation’s national lockout,” said CUPW National President Denis Lemelin.
“The bill would take $875.50 out of the pockets of an average full-time postal worker during the four years of the agreement. All told, it represents a theft of $35 million from postal workers and their families.”
Lemelin said the government’s heavy-handed interventions will damage labour relations for years to come. The last time the federal government imposed back to work legislation in 1997, it included a provision that ensured the mediator arbitrator considered the importance of good labour-management relations. The current legislation contains no such provision.
“The arbitrator who is assigned to do the final offer selection will not have to live with the results,” said Lemelin. “An imposed settlement will not help the post office in the long term.”
http://www.cupw.ca/index.cfm?ci_id=13314&la_id=1
?? Am I getting this wrong or is the government the arbitrator?
..the govt imposed wage increases as part of it's back to work legislation. the other issues will be settled by an arbitrator not yet named. does this answer your question?
June 20, 2011 - 20:00
Urban Postal Unit Negotiations (2011) / Legislation
This document is available in Portable Document Format (PDF).
Please click here to download it.
By Tom Sandborn June 20, 2011 12:52 pm
Canadian postal workers and their community allies took over Conservative MP's offices across Western Canada on Monday morning to deliver a message to the Harper government. They want the Tories to withdraw proposed back to work legislation, end the lock out that has closed postal service across Canada and return to collective bargaining to resolve outstanding contract issues at Canada Post.
Quote: Speaking from the North Vancouver offices of Conservative MP Andrew Saxton, Spires, a member of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) told The Tyee that he and a group of other union members and community supporters had occupied Sexton's office at 10:00 a.m. this morning. As of 11:30 a.m., there had been no contact between the union occupiers and local police.
Similar occupations had occurred simultaneously at the Edmonton constituency office of Rona Ambrose and the Winnipeg office of Shelly Glover. (Ambrose, formerly Minister of Labour, is now Minister of Public Works and Government Services. Saxton is Parliamentary Secretary to the President of Treasury Board, while Glover serves as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance.)
http://thetyee.ca/Blogs/TheHook/Labour-Industry/2011/06/20/PostalWorkersOccupy/
* All times are local time.
Sunday, 19 June 2011 15:04 Tracy Glynn
Members of the Faculty Association of University of St. Thomas (FAUST) and the St. Thomas University Support and Administration Union (STUSAU) joined the picket line with locked-out postal workers at the Waggoners Lane post office in Fredericton on Friday, June 17th over the noon hour.
Robin Vose, President of FAUST, in a letter to Denis Lemelin, President of CUPW on June 2, 2011, states, "we wish to express our solidarity with your struggle to preserve the rights of your members, who are the bone and sinew of the public postal service… We were shocked to learn that Canada Post is proposing to cut 7000 jobs in order to reduce their payroll. This means that the remaining workers will be expected to do more with less, which has implications for their health and safety, as well as the quality of service. We are also concerned that Canada Post is demanding lower rates for current temporary employees and fewer benefits for new hires. This is deplorable, for it targets the corporation’s most vulnerable workers. We support CUPW’s vision for the future of the public postal service: not a corporation preoccupied with profit and a skeleton workforce, but that of a 'A Modern Post Powered by People'."...
http://www.nbmediacoop.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=...
By Fred Wilson | June 21, 2011
The Harper government's legislation to end the lock out at Canada Post sends a strong message to Canadian labour. They intend to lower the wages and benefits of public sector workers and they could give a damn about collective bargaining rights.
The CUPW bill is brutally anti-union and it comes only days after strike breaking legislation against CAW Air Canada workers was introduced, but not passed when the union struck a last minute compromise deal. These back-to-back attacks on unions leave no doubt that there is no place for unions and collective bargaining in shaping Canada's economy under Harper, and that this government will act harshly and decisively to put unions in their place....
http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/fwilson/2011/06/message-harper%E2%80%99s-back-work-law-against-cupw-labour-will-be-put-its-pl
June 21, 2011 - 19:00
Urban Postal Unit Negotiations (2011) / Bulletin
Negotiations Bulletin no. 74
Across the country, postal workers have been demonstrating, attending rallies, lobbying MPs and walking picket lines expressing their determination to fight against the unjust legislation introduced by the Stephen Harper Conservative government. Everywhere the demand has been the same. Don't Legislate: Negotiate!
For the past eight months, we have been determined to negotiate a collective agreement that meets the needs of postal workers and preserves the public postal service. The back-to-work legislation is designed to weaken our resolve, but we are not letting that happen. With the help of the NDP in Parliament, our community allies, the labour movement and with the assistance of Hassan Yussuf, Secretary-Treasurer of the Canadian Labour Congress, we remain as determined as ever to force CPC to negotiate a collective agreement.
The Employer is HidingContrary to media reports, there were no negotiations meetings held yesterday evening. CPC was supposed to arrange a meeting through the mediator. The CUPW negotiating committee and the NEB waited for the meeting, however late last night, the mediator informed us no meeting would occur. Today, we contacted CPC management and arranged for a meeting which took place in the early afternoon. At this meeting we made a proposal in an attempt to break through the deadlock. As of 5:00 p.m., CPC has not yet responded. It appears they are content to hide behind the legislation that they so desperately lobbied for.
The Legislation Must Be WithdrawnThroughout the day in Parliament, NDP MPs repeatedly attacked the back-to-work legislation for being biased and unnecessary. They pointed out that final offer selection has been criticized by government reports as being the worst type of arbitration process as it reinforces a "winner taker all" approach and does not lend itself to resolving problems. The legislation introduced by the Conservative government includes a mandate for the arbitrator that virtually guarantees he/she will choose the position of the employer. We continue to demand that the legislation be withdrawn so that CPC will have to come out of the shadows and negotiate.
Postal Workers Should Be CongratulatedBy standing up against this legislation and demanding the right to free collective bargaining, postal workers are defending the rights of all workers. By rejecting a defined contribution pension plan for the new hires and fighting for a defined benefit pension, we are fighting for the security of the next generation. All postal workers can be proud of themselves and proud of their union. As long as we keep struggling for justice and fighting for our rights we will never be defeated.
In solidarity,
Denis Lemelin
National President and Chief Negotiator
Not a surprise but worth repeating from the Fred Wilson piece:
The CUPW bill is brutally anti-union and it comes only days after strike breaking legislation against CAW Air Canada workers was introduced, but not passed when the union struck a last minute compromise deal. These back-to-back attacks on unions leave no doubt that there is no place for unions and collective bargaining in shaping Canada's economy under Harper, and that this government will act harshly and decisively to put unions in their place....