UNA President Heather Smith backs postal workers at Edmonton rally
United Nurses of Alberta members and representatives of many other unions were on hand today for a lunch-hour rally to support locked-out postal workers in their struggle with Canada Post and the government of Canada for a fair collective agreement.
UNA President Heather Smith attended the rally with about 1,200 other supporters of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers and observed that Canada Post employees “are being dealt a really, really bad hand” by the Conservative government in Ottawa.
On Monday, federal Labour Minister Lisa Raitt introduced a bill in the House of Commons to force the postal workers back to work. The bill is expected to be passed by the Conservative majority in the House by next Monday.
“This is the first time weíve seen what the Conservative majority is prepared to do to workers, and itís not good,” said Smith. “Theyíre holding all the cards …. Theyíre proposing a salary increase thatís even less than Canada Post was going to give them, and in addition theyíre sending them to binding arbitration with an arbitrator that the federal government selects.
“Bad deal! If this is a poker game, the governmentís got all the cards on their side.”
Smith noted that the postal dispute matters to Alberta nurses, and to all other working people because the same thing could happen to them. “Canada Post may be the first one facing it, but theyíre not going to be the last. It could be us too!”
Gil McGowan, president of the Alberta Federation of Labour, told the throng that “rather than help find a solution to disputes by acting as an independent umpire or counselor, this government has chosen to take sides and help the employers impose their will on working Canadians.”
McGowan said the Harper government “has made common cause with employers and employer groups that want to strip away and water down the hard won wages and benefits that provide a foundation for Canadaís increasingly precarious middle class.”
Canadaís 9,000 postal workers launched rotating strikes on June 3 in their effort to win a fair collective agreement. On June 14, Canada Post locked out the postal workers across the country.
2nd Vice-President Jane Sustrik and President Heather Smith at CUPW rally in Edmonton.
