CUPW Delivers a Strong Message to the Strategic Review

On September 2, 2008, national and local CUPW representatives hand-delivered a clear message to the Strategic Review’s advisory panel – Our public post office isn’t broken so don’t try to fix it through deregulation.

The message came in three forms: 22,000 signed postcards saying “Hey Harper – Hands off our post office”; the union’s submission; and a new national public opinion poll that shows 69 per cent of Canadians don’t want private companies delivering letters in Canada.

Clearly the union is in step with the needs and wants of communities coast to coast to coast when it comes to their public post office, or as Vancouver’s largest daily newspaper said; “We think the postal workers are on the right track.”

CUPW’s submission to the review panel

With that in mind, the union made 25 recommendations in its submission that focused on five points:

1. A rigorously researched and enlightened opposition to postal deregulation
   
   
2. The financial responsibilities of Canada Post
   
   
3. The task of improving postal services
   
   
4. The duty of a national public post office to push for the highest standards of social responsibility in our society
   
   
5. The need for Canada Post to perform an environmental audit of its operations to reduce its carbon footprint

Copies of the union’s submission will be sent to your local and there is an electronic copy available on the national website at www.cupw-sttp.org.

Will the government listen to you, your union and public opinion?

Unfortunately governments aren’t known for implementing good ideas or what people want unless it means they won’t get re-elected. And that’s exactly why your vote counts. The upcoming federal election is another chance for you to tell the federal government to keep their hands off our post office. In fact, elected persons expect to hear from their constituents and it’s something you have every right to do. So whether it’s through the election volunteers who will come knocking, or direct contact with your MP, we need to be clear that no electoral candidate in you riding will get your vote unless they do something to prove they are against deregulating public postal services in Canada.

Your participation in the union’s upcoming days of action around the election are key. Otherwise, a majority Conservative government will likely move to deregulate Canada Post and we have seen that deregulating public postal services eliminates jobs.