Why You Should Support Postal Workers

The 48,000 members of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) are holding a series of rotating strikes against Canada Post. Although missing our mail might be an inconvenience, this strike will affect our lives in other ways. It is a fight over issues that most working people are facing today. Postal workers are fighting to maintain healthy conditions at work; the right to decent wages and benefits; retirement security and pensions.

All these rights are under attack by employers and governments, who are trying to make workers pay for the economic crisis that we did not create. And, just like so many other efforts to weaken public services we rely on or sell them off to the private sector, it is a fight over the very nature and survival of the public post office.

The real issues are: should workers have to pay the price and bear the burden for managers who only want to increase profits and match lowest cost competitors? Even more, should our key public services 'modernize' by becoming more like private, profit-making operations, or should they provide needed, affordable, new and innovative services by decently paid, skilled working men and women?

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