Regina postal workers, allies join protest rally
Workers angry ‘their voice was taken away,’ says city’s CUPW vice-president
Regina was one of 23 cities across Canada where people rallied in protest of federal legislation that forces Canada Post employees participating in a rotating strike back to work.
About 60 residents, postal workers and allies gathered outside federal MP Ralph Goodale’s office on Saturday afternoon carrying signs and flags and making noise in support of postal workers’ rights.
The rallies were organized by allies and other unions across the country to send a message to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Liberal government.
“We’re not going to accept this archaic back-to-work legislation,” said vice-president of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW ) in Regina, Bev Ray.
She said the legislation “once again strips workers of their rights to freedom of speech and collective bargaining ” and that postal workers are angry, upset and frustrated.
“On Tuesday, when we got the back-to-work legislation in the depot that I work in, there were people that were in tears,” she said.
“They were scared of the idea of being legislated back to work and threatened with fines, but they were also angry that their right and their voice was taken away by the federal government and everything that they have been fighting for seems to have gone by the wayside.”
Postal workers had been holding rotating strikes across the country since Oct. 22.
CUPW’S 50,000 members, in two groups, are demanding better pay for rural and suburban carriers, as well as greater job security and minimum guaranteed hours.
Ray said the starting wage is now lower than what it was when she first started with Canada Post 18 years ago and she’s seen postal workers going backward in terms of wages, health and safety and working conditions.
The union also wants Canada Post to adopt rules that would cut down on workplace injuries.
“We’re five times higher the rate of any other federal sector employer in terms of injury rates in this country,” said Ray. “Canada Post refused to address any of those issues at the negotiating table.”
Workers are also fighting for gender pay equity.
“While the federal government talks about the importance of equality for women, what they’ve done in terms of imposing this back-to-work legislation has told us very clearly that they really don’t care,” she said.
“If they did, they would have forced Canada Post to stay at the bargaining table and actually negotiate a true and fair collective agreement.”
Ray said she feels empowered by the crowd who came out in support of postal workers’ rights, including the unions that have shown solidarity across the country. She hopes that support continues to grow.
“I’d like to see everybody across this country stand up and fight back and say we’re not going to tolerate any governments to impose this kind of legislation on working people,” said Ray.