Far from bringing a resolution, rejection is another step in protracted conflict
By J.P. Fortin
After months of uncertainty fueled by government interference, postal workers rejected Canada Post’s “final and best offer” on August 1. Both urban and Rural and Suburban Mail Carrier (RSMC) units rejected it by nearly 70 percent.
After the government’s use in December of Section 107 of the Canadian Labour Code to force striking postal workers back to work and initiate the Industrial Inquiry Commission (known as the Kaplan Report and released in May) the vote organized by the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) was added to Canada Post’s empty hand as a new card the employer could play to circumvent the bargaining process.
Working people and unions across the country condemned Minister of Jobs and Families Patty Hajdu for resorting to this anti-union provision, and the federal Liberal government for interfering yet again in negotiations at Canada Post.
While the outcome of the forced vote is a resounding victory for the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW), it was far from a foregone conclusion. On one side were Canada Post, the major private media outlets, and right-wing think tanks and researchers – all of whom have unlimited resources and take pleasure in blaming workers. On the other side was the patient and militant work carried out among workers on the shop floor. The rejection of the offer was a pure affirmation of workers’ rights.
Forced votes like this are not uncommon – they are a desperate attempt to delegitimize the union in the bargaining process, and a strategy that Liberal and Conservative governments have been pursuing for years. This is part of a sustained attack to eliminate intermediary bodies, particularly unions, and hand over all democratic levers to large private monopolies. When Pierre Poilievre, echoing Donald Trump, says he is defending workers against “union bosses,” this is what he is really talking about.
Since the beginning of the negotiations, the entire narrative from the corporation and the mainstream media has been based on this rhetoric. It is an attempt to shift the decision-making process away from the union, away from the hands of workers, and transform a democratic decision into one made by “experts” and commentators. The use of legal tools shifts the struggle to a terrain where the state and employers have a clear advantage.
This campaign also involves the corporation and media seizing on any crisis, real or fabricated, to deliberately promote privatization and liberalization. Knowing that this avenue is unpopular with the general public, pro-privatization forces try to scapegoat the union and union rights.
Despite all the tools deployed against it, the union was able to take advantage of mistakes, blunders and disconnectedness of Canada Post, the CIRB and others promoting the dismantling of the postal service. While it is perfectly understandable that CUPW members were inclined to accept the offer – given the sustained fear campaign and the protracted conflict – the calculated, relentless and dehumanizing bias of Canada Post and the mainstream media served as a deterrent. Even isolated workers are not fooled by so much dissonance and bad faith.
The struggle continues after the vote
Far from bringing a resolution, the vote is another step in a protracted conflict. The next phase is likely to require sustained mobilization by workers in the face of a management strategy of attrition. Three scenarios seem possible for the future of the conflict:
The first option, desired by the union and many who are anticipating the 2028 negotiations, is arbitration imposed by the government. Faced with political pressure and Canada Post’s total unwillingness to negotiate, CUPW has decided to ask the government for arbitration. This solution, which aims to cut the losses for the workers, has the advantage of allowing the government to sweep the conflict under the rug and the union to preserve unity and working conditions for a time. Eventually, it would postpone major changes until the next review of the corporation’s mandate in Parliament.
The second option, which is pushed by the Kaplan Report, is a long and difficult lockout that would weaken employees and sow resentment toward the union. The aim here would be to force structural changes by impoverishing workers until they reluctantly accept the offer. Obviously, this situation could have a political cost for Canada Post, but the mainstream media would undoubtedly rationalize the decision as a necessity “to get things done.”
The third option, which many consider a fantasy, would be to conclude a genuine collective agreement through normal negotiation. As unlikely as it may seem today, this option is not impossible. It is worth remembering that, in most of the disputes at Canada Post over the past 30 years, it was government intervention that ended or prevented the disputes.
The problem is a political one
At the end of the day, the conflict at Canada Post has political roots. The current economic dynamic, in which the public sector is subordinate to monopoly capitalism, makes a mockery of purely workplace-based trade union efforts. The liberalization of the delivery market is a political project – it goes beyond the personal interests of Doug Ettinger or Jeff Bezos. It’s not cyclical but structural, and it is class based.
This political vision has as its goal for the entire delivery sector the maximum exploitation of workers for the benefit of large private monopolies, most of which are foreign. The consequences of this are socioeconomic segregation, rising prices, the end of universal access to basic services, and a reinforced wealth gap and system of unequal treatment.
The struggle ahead requires a shift of scale – it is no longer just a matter of mobilizing one’s workplace, but of mobilizing all progressive allies. Postal workers will not see any significant improvement until sufficient political pressure forces the government to curb the liberalization of essential services. This is particularly true now, as public services have been hit by across-the-board spending cuts which will all be used to fill the coffers of the military-industrial complex as Carney raises arms spending to $150 billion per year.
Perhaps more than ever in living memory, it is clear that the fight for public services is the fight of all workers.
With a possible review of Canada Post’s mandate approaching, now is the time to close the door to foreign monopolies and demand a truly public postal service. We need a service that both defends working conditions and guarantees a strategic, accessible and affordable infrastructure for everyone, everywhere in the country.
[Photo from May Day 2023: CUPW]
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