Unions rally to support postal workers, as back-to-work law nears

Thousands of unionists rallied outside Canada Post's offices in Winnipeg and Ottawa on Thursday in support of locked-out postal workers, while a solidarity rally is being planned today in Vancouver.

Chanting "Negotiate, don't legislate," members from dozens of unions protested outside Canada Post's Ottawa headquarters and Winnipeg offices, criticizing the federal government's tabling of back-to-work legislation next Monday.

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) criticized the impending legislation as suppressing workers' rights.

"It's outrageous," said CUPW Vancouver president Robert Mulvin. "Not only locking us out, but then forcing us back. We were hoping the labour minister would ask us to work at [negotiations] a little more."

Unionists expressed hope that Canada Post, which locked out workers who had been on rotating strikes for more than a week, will return to the negotiating table before the government law passes.

"As workers, we have a common cause to protect the rights of the little people," said Angie, a 30-year Vancouver mail sorter who would only give her first name. "We are the backbone of industry, but as workers we have little voice in running the company."

Marching a picket line in front of Canada Post's Vancouver office, through a massive crowd of Canucks fans prior to the Stanley Cup final, Angie pointed to the larger cause of workers' rights and called on Canadians' to support CUPW workers.

"If this big corporation wins against the union, other big companies will do the same thing," she said. "Canadians will become more like the Americans without good medical plans, paying higher premiums, and little protection."

Mulvin said unionists are concerned about what the future holds for worker rights under Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

"We're on the forefront of the struggle," he said. "But out on the picket lines, we've really come together. We've got a whole generation of newer workers who've never been on strike; it's been a real eye-opener for them.

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Source: Rabble.ca