FENTECT and CUPW may represent postal workers in jurisdictions on different continents, but the recent tour of a delegation from the Brazilian Postal Workers Union has revealed how similar the issues confronting workers in each union really are.

For example, United Parcel Service (UPS) and other multi-national courier companies have launched a big campaign in Brazil to virtually end the exclusive privilege of Brazil’s public postal service to deliver regular mail. And here, UPS has sued the federal government, claiming that CPC violates the rules around unfair competition against private courier companies contained in NAFTA.

In both cases, the actions of UPS amount to a major threat to universal public postal service. CUPW and FENTECT have committed to support each other’s campaigns and mobilizations around the growing power of global courier companies.

CUPW, at FENTECT’s request, has already intervened in the UPS court challenge to the postal monopoly in Brazil. Brazil’s Federal Supreme Court recently ruled against the UPS challenge, but further challenges are expected.

Solidarity Across Borders

The FENTECT delegation, consisting of two sisters and two brothers from the union’s national executive, visited postal installations and met with CUPW members, local activists and regional and national officers in Ottawa, Montreal, Kitchener and Saskatoon, between November 5 and 17, 2005.
Both unions have declared the visit an unqualified success and an example of how to build union solidarity across borders.

Despite the different levels of economic development in our respective countries, the tour showed that, in many other areas, the situation facing our members is more similar than we ever imagined.

Concrete Links

The tour resulted in both unions recognizing, and deepening our understanding of, the struggle of each other’s membership in the workplace, particularly in the area of health and safety.

The two unions made concrete links between the fight against privatization and for universal postal services, and the roles our two unions have assumed in the larger battle against the neo-liberal model of capitalism in our countries and around the world. We came to important agreements on how we will work together within UNI, the Global Union Federation we both affiliate to, in order to build its capacity to unite unions internationally to fight against neo-liberalism and exploitation.

CUPW and FENTECT also discovered a profound level of unity on strategies to provide solidarity assistance in the ongoing project of breaking down barriers to participation of all our members within our unions, whether by reason of gender, race, disability or sexual orientation.

Currently, FENTECT and CUPW are working on a joint solidarity statement expressing our commitment to build on the bilateral links which the two unions have established. When completed, it will be available on the CUPW website.