Organizing new workers in the postal sector

The union will begin a major campaign this fall to organize transport services workers that work for Canada Post. CUPW organizers will be encouraging these Combined Urban Services (CUS) drivers, Highway Services workers, Priority Courier deliveries drivers and Shuttle Services workers to sign union cards starting October 1.

Right now, Canada Post contracts out a lot of transport services work to companies who hire the individual workers. These workers perform similar work to that of Mail Service Couriers in urban centres but with lower wages and fewer benefits. It’s time for that to change.

CUPW believes these workers are in fact Canada Post employees and should be protected by a single collective agreement. Once a majority of these transport services workers have joined the union, we will file a common employer application before the Canada Industrial Relations Board. If we are successful, these workers will be able to bargain together as a new CUPW bargaining unit with Canada Post for improved rights and work conditions.

Organizing benefits us all

While organizing workers in the postal sector improves their work conditions, it is also a key to improving our work conditions. Organizing benefits all of us. The stronger our collective voices are within the postal sector, the easier it is to negotiate improvements in wages and benefits for everyone.

Organizing ensures all companies in the industry are on a more level playing field with employees that are protected by collective agreements. Having a postal sector that is entirely unionized also cuts the incentive for Canada Post to contract out CUPW members’ jobs to non-union companies.

We also know other unions may organize these workers if we don’t take on the challenge. We only represent 55 per cent of postal sector workers. These are workers who transport, process or deliver mail and parcels for public and private companies. Other unions such as the Teamsters, Canadian Auto Workers and United Steelworkers already represent many workers in the postal sector and are organizing more every year. Many of these workers perform similar work to that of CUPW members.

The union has bargaining units made up of CUS workers right now. But it’s difficult to make significant improvements in wages and work conditions when bargaining with small companies spread across the regions. Our best chance is to unite transport services workers into one CUPW bargaining unit to negotiate together with strength in numbers.

The challenge ahead

CUPW has a history of taking on the broader struggles of workers. Now is no different. We know organizing transport services workers into a single bargaining unit could significantly improve their working conditions and protect our work conditions in the future. That’s why we’ve been trying to contract-in CUS drivers for years. It is now time to take this challenge to the next level.

We need to ensure every worker in the postal sector is treated with respect, fairness and decency. All members are encouraged to support transport services drivers in this campaign.