Our history is an important part of who we are. A few highlights follow:
1965: Postal workers haven’t seen much of a wage increase for years. They strike even though public sector workers do not have the legal right to strike. The strike produces a significant increase in salary. It also leads to a Royal Commission into working conditions and an interesting union convention in 1965.
Delegates to the 1965 National Convention replace leaders who failed to back the strike. They adopt rules providing membership control over strike votes. This is part of a move to increase democracy within the union. Delegates also change the name of their organization from the Canadian Postal Employees Association (CPEA) to the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW).
1965: Part-timers are paid less than full-timers. They have little in the way of benefits and no control over their work. Full-time workers see part-time workers as a threat to their wages and job security because management uses them as a cheap, easily manipulated workforce. Part-timers are expelled from CUPW at the 1965 convention because many crossed picket lines during the 1965 strike.
1967: The federal government passes the Public Service Staff Relations Act. This act allows federal sector workers, including postal workers, to choose either compulsory arbitration or conciliation with the right to strike.
The CUPW is certified to represent part-timers. The union begins the process of fighting for equality for part-timers. This makes it harder for management to pit part-timers against full-timers.
Today, part-timers are equal with full-time workers (on a pro-rated basis) in most areas of the collective agreement.
1972: The post office introduces a new classification for people who are coding the mail (i.e. typing the postal code). A letter sorting machine (now called an optical character reader) reads the codes and electronically sorts the mail. The post office argues that this work does not require the memorization and skill involved in manual sortation.
1974: CUPW forces management to get rid of the lower paid coder classification by striking and negotiating a new job classification (postal coder-sorter-sweeper ) which combines coding and postal clerk functions into one.
1981: Parliament unanimously adopts the Canada Post Corporation Act, legislation guaranteeing the provision of basic public postal services to all Canadians, no matter where they live. The Act is the product of over two years of consultations between three successive federal governments, business groups and postal unions under the umbrella of the Canadian Labour Congress.
Unfortunately, the unions do not succeed in convincing the federal government to do right by rural and suburban mail couriers. The government includes a provision in the CPC Act which prevents rural and suburban mail couriers from being considered employees with collective bargaining rights and other rights under the Canada Labour Code. Rural and suburban mail couriers are considered to be contractors. They have no rights, no benefits and inhumane working conditions.
1981: CUPW argues that maternity leave is needed to eliminate the injustice suffered by female workers who are forced to take a substantial loss in pay due to pregnancy. It takes the position that women shouldn’t have to pay a penalty because they are the ones in society who bear children. The union wins paid maternity leave after a 42-day strike, making CUPW the first national union to win this right for its members.
1983: Delegates to CUPW’s national convention decide that the best way to protect members’ wages and working conditions is to improve other workers’ wages and working conditions by organizing.
1986: Canada Post announces plans to close or privatize thousands of post offices. The Canadian Labour Congress and post office unions organize a major campaign to stop post office cutbacks and privatization. This campaign results in a moratorium on post office closures in 1994.
1989: CUPW wins a certification vote to represent both inside and outside postal workers. Outside workers were formerly represented by the Letter Carriers Union of Canada.
1992: CUPW negotiates an education fund. It uses this fund to educate members on a wide variety of work, union and social justice issues.
1995: CUPW negotiates with Canada Post to take control of a $2 million dollar child care fund. It uses the fund to help members who have the most trouble finding or affording good child care, such as night workers and parents of children with special needs.
1995: CUPW negotiates a provision that requires Canada Post to permit temporary workers to fill vacant regular positions based on seniority. Prior to this, Canada Post’s representatives often used arbitrary and discriminatory hiring procedures, especially with respect to the filling of internal positions.
1997: The Organization of Rural Route Mail Couriers (ORRMC) is formed. The ORRMC wants basic bargaining rights, not just better contracts that can be changed at the whim of the government or Canada Post. CUPW agrees to help the ORRMC.
2002-2003: CUPW signs up rural and suburban mail carriers as members and negotiates the contracting in of carriers. As unionized workers, they have basic rights and a contract that provides clear rules and improved wages.
