Unions are made up of groups of workers that join together to raise the working standards for all and create a more just and humane society. There are roughly four million unionized workers in Canada.
The right to strike has been under attack by both Provincial and Federal governments, despite the Supreme Court of Canada’s direction that workers have the constitutional right to strike. We’ve seen Rail Workers and Port Workers ordered back to work recently, and we’ve just witnessed the Postal Workers being ordered to return to work, after the Government of Canada’s intervention through the Minister of Labour's request to the Canadian Industrial Relations Board. The board was to determine if parties could negotiate a tentative agreement in the very near future, and if not, order the workers back to work. It was determined after two days of hearings that the parties are at an impasse. An impasse means there’s no further room for negotiation on either side. Postal operations were ordered to resume on December 17th 2024 at 8:00am local time.
Today’s Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) have seen the same rise in the cost of living as we have, and are fighting hard for better wages, just like we are.
Striking, which is withdrawing labour, is an important tool in negotiations. It is unfortunate that workers are still under attack, and under attack by the same governments that workers vote for. So, use your collective voice to express how you feel about both the Essential Services legislation that we currently see our SAHO members facing, and also with the back-to-work legislation that our Postal Workers are facing. When we look at how we have won in the past, it has been through standing up and fighting for better working conditions, an education campaign for the public, lobbying decision makers, and building alliances. SEIU-West stands in solidarity with CUPW across Canada.
When we fight, we WIN!