By Doug Nesbitt On June 29, 1981, some 23,000 inside postal workers began what would become a long 42-day strike. The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) stayed out and won 17 weeks of paid maternity leave at 93% of full wages. CUPW’s breakthrough agreement sets a standard for other unions, although CUPW was simply Continue readingThe 1981 postal workers’ strike for maternity leave
CUPW
By Doug Nesbitt Momentum is growing among postal workers to reject a deal that would extend existing union contracts with Canada Post by two years. The two contracts cover Urban Ops, and Rural and Suburban Mail Carriers (RSMCs). That’s 50,000 Canada Post workers in total, and all members of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers Continue reading‘No’ campaign emerges to kill dubious Canada Post deal
by Anna Bianca Roach Foodora workers laid their bikes on the ground, stood two metres apart, and blocked Richmond Street traffic in front of the company’s office on Friday afternoon. The workers chanted and gave speeches protesting Foodora’s recent decision to withdraw from the Canadian market. Foodora couriers won the right to unionize roughly two Continue readingCouriers block traffic to protest Foodora’s withdrawal from Canada
By Doug Nesbitt Postal workers across the country are pressing Canada Post management to clean up its act. COVID-19 infections among postal workers have already led to the suspension of mail delivery in Newfoundland and most recently the closure of a mail depot in North Bay, Ontario. In Edmonton, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers Continue readingHow Edmonton posties are fighting for health and safety
By Haseena Manek Since Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced restaurants would stay open for takeout and delivery during the COVID19 pandemic, bicycle couriers have ben deemed “essential” workers. Already a dangerous job, bicycle couriers working for food delivery apps like Foodora, Uber Eats, Doordash and Skip the Dishes have no sick leave, no health insurance. Continue readingEssential but precarious: Toronto bike couriers fight for a union
Workers in the “gig economy” are organizing to transform the precarious working conditions in their sector. On November 6, Foodora couriers and Uber drivers hosted a morning rally outside of the Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB) to draw attention to their respective union drives with the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) and United Food Continue readingGig workers rising: Foodora couriers and Uber drivers organizing for justice
CUPW Local 730 has sent a letter to CUPW’s national office asking for support in defying back-to-work legislation. CUPW was legislated back to work nearly one year ago, which broke the postal workers’ rotating strike across the country. CUPW Local 730 President Roland Schmidt explains what lead up to this point. —- Alberta’s Bill 20 Continue readingEdmonton posties willing to defy back-to-work
By Tannara Yelland Bike couriers deliver food in cold weather and hot, and when the weather is the worst, demand for their services is highest. Nobody wants to be outside when it’s -40, but for workers doing a precarious job with no security, that demand often translates into feeling compelled to work in unpleasant or Continue readingGig economy workers strike back
By Kevin Taghabon “General Motors is not the solution. General Motors is the problem,” loud applause followed autoworker Tony Leah’s declaration at the front of the room at IBEW Hall. His speech was part of an event, Nationalize General Motors: Oshawa’s Green New Deal. The evening served as the first organizing meeting for a grassroots Continue readingNationalize GM
Rank & File Radio – Prairie Edition on CKUW 95.90 FM provides Canadian labour news and analysis across Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta. This show is an independent partner with RankandFile.ca and supported by listeners like you through Patreon, and UFCW Local 832. This episode is broadcasting from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Treaty 1 territory, the original lands Continue readingCharles Smith & Suzanne MacNeil on the right to strike, civil disobedience & solidarity pickets
By Chloe Rockarts Since postal workers were legislated back to work on Tuesday, November 27, picket lines have been organized across the country by unions and labour groups in support of postal workers and the right to strike. Picketers have stopped mail entering and exiting at Canada Post processing centres, distribution facilities and plants in Continue readingCUPW legislated back: The Struggle Continues
By Riley Peterson On the night of Monday, November 26 I headed to Gateway in Mississauga, Canada Post’s largest plant in Canada, to join postal workers and allies for a direct action outside of the plant. We were assembling to block each of the plant’s gates to stop trucks carrying mail – particularly contractors – Continue readingPicketing for the posties