Postal workers and their allies rallied in front of the Prime MinisterÔÇÖs office on April 10, demanding changes to the Canada Post Corporation Act (CPCA) to allow rural route and suburban mail couriers to unionize.
Members of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) took time off from their national convention in Ottawa to lend support to the efforts of the Organization of Rural Route Mail Couriers (ORRMC) and their bid to amend section 13.5 of the Act, which prevents them from joining a union.
ÔÇ£We were here three years ago, and Canada Post promised working conditions would improve for these workers,ÔÇØ said Deborah Bourque, 3rd National Vice-President of CUPW, in a CUPW press release. ÔÇ£WeÔÇÖre here again today, because despite those promises, nothing has changed. Fair treatment for these workers is long overdue.ÔÇØ
Members of the ORRMC were also present at the protest. The postal workers began their march at 1:00 p.m. at the Ottawa Congress Centre and then proceeded to Prime MinisterÔÇÖs Office.
Jean-Claude Parrot, Vice-president of the Canadian Labour Congress, and former president of CUPW, addressed the demonstrators. ÔÇ£Very few workers in Canada are denied the right to collective bargaining,” he said before the demonstration in a press release. “In fact, the Supreme Court of Canada just ruled that farm workers and other workers have the right to unionize. The ongoing exploitation of rural route and suburban mail couriers is a terrible injustice that must end immediately.ÔÇØ