| 12-31-2019

Responsive image

2019 In Review - What Is the Union Doing?

There’s no sugar coating it: 2019 was a brutal year for postal workers. We’ve spent the entire year under unconstitutional legislation discouraging us from striking to leverage a better collective agreement out of CPC. Strike’s are very effective but without the (legal) power to strike our future is being surrendered to the arbitration system. Arbitration was supposed to last only last 90 days; first it was extended to Dec 2019, and now it’s been extended to June 2020. CPC delays, and the arbitrator, (the person CPC put forward as their choice to the government) will happily let them keep taking advantage. If CPC genuinely cared about the principles of their ‘Make It Safe, Make It Home’ campaign, they would be at the table negotiating improvements to the chronic overburdening and understaffing that contributes to 25% of our colleagues getting injured every year. Instead, we’re pushed through another peak season using the same broken methods. The whole system is a farce, but, of course, we all know that.

What is the Union doing?

It’s as true now as it‘s ever been: the union is only as powerful as its membership is organized and mobilized. As disheartening as the legislation and arbitration have been, the Edmonton local has refused to stand idle. Instead of waiting for a broken system to deliver us justice, we’ve taken matters into our own hands. Almost every facility/shift in the city have led job actions as a result of our workfloor organizer recruitment and education campaign. Bully bosses, admail violations, staffing cuts, witch hunts on our stewards… anywhere we’ve stood together and fought back, we’ve meaningfully improved our working conditions and workplace. If we keep nurturing this momentum in 2020 we will have enough strength to grow this movement beyond Edmonton to the rest of our union and take on bigger problems such as unconstitutional legislation. On that note, please see the attached video which discusses in more detail what our local has been up to over the past 7 months and what we are doing to empower our members and fight back regardless of what happens with the arbitration whenever it concludes.

Home