People across the country are organizing to save door-to-door home mail delivery. Canada Post’s outrageous elimination of home mail delivery despite the company’s profitability, is a Harper-approved blow against public services by Canada Post management.
In London, Ontario, residents have established Londoners for Door to Door and are canvassing with postal workers to build support. This grassroots activism has two local Tory MPs in trouble and has dragged a reluctant City Council into a battle against Canada Post management. A London town hall on home mail delivery is being held on May 20.
Here is a great short video capturing the Londoners for Door to Door in action. This includes one resident recruiting postal workers for canvassing at their sorting depot. The video was made by the London activist video collective The Indignants
Just this past week the Canadian Union of Postal Workers finished their national convention in Toronto. A new executive vowing to spread this grassroots activism, has been elected. This includes Mike Palecek, the union’s new president. Here is a pre-election Rankandfile.ca interview with Mike.
The convention marked the 50th anniversary of the union, formed out of a wildcat strike in 1965 against Canada Post’s exploitation of workers and against an employees’ association that didn’t want to fight back.
In honour of CUPW’s fifty years, here is the great documentary Memory and Muscle, about the 1965 strike that not only established the new union, but opened up the door to a huge wave of public sector unionization in Canada.