To the striking workers of CUPW, we see you and we support you.
CUPE 4600, the local representing Contract Instructors, Teaching Assistants, and Research Assistants at Carleton University, stands in solidarity with the 55,000 workers at the Canadian Union for Postal Workers (CUPW) who have been on strike since November 15. We are the largest union on our campus, and have been active since the 1970s. On behalf of our thousands of members, we offer solidarity to the striking members of CUPW.
Canada Post workers are demanding fair wages, better health and safety conditions, pension plan protections, and the expansion of services in post offices. The decision to strike comes in response to Canada Post’s failure to bargain in good faith. All of us in Canada are dependent on the important work carried out by CUPW workers, and their labour is crucial. We understand that the disruptions caused by this strike are essential in this fight for better working conditions for their members and we salute their resolve in the face of backlash and hostility. The decision to strike is not one that is made lightly. Many of us in the public sector have faced the crushing weight of cuts to public funding and see the looming threat of privatization for all of our public goods. If unchecked, privatization would mean less access to all of the essential services we depend on. CUPW has chosen to bravely stand against these austerity measures, to support their members, and protect the public postal services we all depend upon. The right to strike is one we at CUPE4600 will always defend, and we are proud to see the members of CUPW never backing down from the fight.
CUPW has a proud history of fighting for their members, and making gains that have benefitted all workers. From the fight for parental leave, to being leaders in labour’s support for Palestine, we have seen this union leading our labour movement for worker’s rights and international justice in an exemplary way.
We call on Canada Post to meet the union’s demands for better working conditions, so that this strike can conclude in the only way it can: with a victory for the workers of CUPW through an improved Collective Agreement and a victory for all of us through the protection of a vital public service.
We have supported CUPW during past strikes, and were present on the solidarity picket lines when their right to strike was under attack in 2018. Having recently been on strike ourselves, we understand the hardship taken on by the workers, and we will continue to support them through this bargaining process. We are joined by many workers’ unions that stand in solidarity with CUPW, including CAPE, PSAC, and CUPE 2424.
Signed,
The CUPE Local 4600 Executive Council