SuppliedIt’s the most wonderful time of the year. It’s also one of the busiest for mail, but this year was an exception. On November 15, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW), which represents 55,000 workers nationwide, went on strike. The strike lasted approximately a month, with workers returning to the job December 17. While we just had a mail freeze, it has been a hot year for labour disputes in Canada.
The CUPW strike came after nearly a year of attempted bargaining between the union and Canada Post, with the union fighting for fair wages and working conditions. In particular, the union is concerned about the possibility of “gigification” of work, which would strip employees of labour protections.
It seems Canada Post refuses to negotiate in good faith. In fact, it has laid off some of the striking workers. In response to the layoffs, CUPW filed a labour complaint with the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB). Canada Post denies violating the Canada Labour Code.
Sadly, unions rarely win the public-relations game that their employers eagerly engage in. Union workers are portrayed as greedy, lazy, and entitled. The employer bemoans how the strike will impact Canadians. People complain how it affects them and usually blame the workers.
News media seems to only fuel people’s frustration with unions. It often paints sympathetic portrayals of people “harmed” by the striking workers. If all else fails, employers appeal to the government to order binding arbitration or back-to-work orders. Employers often get what they ask for.
Steve MacKinnon, the federal labour minister, directed CIRB to step in on the CUPW strike on December 13. The result? CIRB ordered Canada Post employees back to work. Back in August, something similar happened with the Teamsters strike. The union, which represents 9,000 rail workers at Canadian National (CN) and Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC), went on strike after negotiations stalled. The CIRB, however, forced workers back to work while ordering binding arbitration. Teamsters is appealing this decision.
Unionized airplane mechanics went on a surprise strike over the Canada Day long-weekend. They walked off the job, even though the former federal Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan issued a directive to CIRB to impose binding arbitration. CIRB ruled that the directive did not preclude strike action. Strikes in Quebec and Ontario also occurred over the summer.
And more strikes keep happening. Education workers went on strike in Saskatchewan and Alberta. In October, Edmonton Public School Board (EPSB) support staff voted to strike. The Government of Alberta stepped in to prevent the strike action. Many members walked off the job anyway.
In British Columbia (B.C.), miners at the Gibraltar copper mine went on strike for 18 days. They were ultimately successful in their negotiations. Regardless of the inconvenience a strike may cause to Canadians, this should be the outcome we all hope for.
We should also demand that the federal and provincial governments keep their noses out of unions’ disputes with their employers. It should not be a government’s place to strongarm unions into arbitration or to force workers back to work. Government interference is a decisive factor in undermining the power of unions. Moves to “resolve” labour actions typically favour employers, and thus undermine unions’ ability to leverage collective labour to improve working conditions. And that’s the entire point of unions.
For Christmas this year, I want Canadians to critically assess the anti-labour narratives they are told. Instead of asking “how could unions do this to us,” we should ask “how could the employer ignore worker demands for so long?”
If you enjoy parental leave, guaranteed minimum wage, eight hour work days, weekends, unemployment insurance, vacation and sick time, and safe working conditions, it’s because of organized labour. Workers were not “given” these things — they fought for them, oftentimes at a high cost.
I am not saying that concerns about the impact of the Canada Post strike should be ignored. Nor do I want to downplay the anxiety felt by those who are waiting on essential mail from their employers, health care services, scholarship cheques, or bills. What I am calling for is a show of solidarity, especially in the face of the ever-climbing cost-of-living.
We should recognize that strikes are most effective when they are inconvenient. Only being pro-labour when it’s easy and convenient is not pro-labour at all. Instead of complaining about striking postal workers, complain to the employer and tell them they should engage in good faith negotiations and stop offering crumbs to their employees. If anyone is the Grinch who stole Christmas, it’s employers who are unwilling to treat workers fairly.
