With this exciting report we continue to post material about struggles at Canada Post. It was originally posted at The Worker Struggle with the Modern Post. Solidarity, fellow workers!

Simply Genius action in Ottawa!

This morning, responding to a facebook call went to the Canada Post headquarters. Community members, students, solidarity groups, other unions, and cupw members proceeded to protest the lockout. Canada Post locked all entrances and then accused the union of keeping out workers. It was clear that the demonstrators had no intent on blocking PSAC, UPCE or other unionized members from doing their jobs. However, Canada Post, in usual style proceeded to lock their doors, effectively locking out more workers, and locking others in. Soon hundreds of workers appeared and waited for 1-2 hours, thanks to Canada Post. The police arrived and wanted to know who was in charge. But nobody was. This appeared on facebook …so I guess contact them! The police said that now one could be kept inside and asked why we were blocking people from getting out…they seemed surprised when we told them it was Canada Post keeping them in. It seemed management had adopted the principle of nobody in – nobody out.

Also the head of labour relations John Thomas received an earful for his practice of destroying the lives of working people and their families. He tried to get away and looked to the cops to help protect him from being asked questions. They shrugged their shoulders. He remained silent as asked why Canada Post refuses to let letter carriers deliver cheques to seniors and why the plants are full of mail while they say they aren’t. Why are people cut off their medications? How do you sleep at night? Do you tell you children what you do? He seemed unable to answer in spite of ample opportunity. Local radio had a microphone in his face but was picking up silence. BTW, Thomas is also the RSMC negotiator for Canada Post. Clearly, his dignity or what is left of it is buried someplace else. This seems to be a creatuire who operates in the dark.

And speaking of operations in the dark – there was a lot of pressure to let people into an adjoining building where other unionized workers unrelated to Canada Post –workers entered by showing their union cards – non-union personnel were redirected to go away. Once the CRA workers were in (after a long wait on the grounds thanks to management) – Mgt tried to get entry for the CSE – Canadian Security Establishment…this organization essentially spies on people, snoops on electronic communications and are more secretive than CSIS. They are not friends of communities and postal workers but doing the secretive voyeuristic work of the new world order in lockstep with the National Security Agency in the U.S. This bunch data mines like crazy –with a kind of surveillance the old East German Stasi could only dream off.. Apparently they cannot identify themselves so someone said the police would do it before letting them in. That did not appear good enough for the protestors. Donald Lafleur said “I think the janitors are next” so the janitorial staff entered. Not surprisingly they were clearly new Canadians from Africa. How some things never change. It was no surprise that we did not see Caucasian males doing that work. The CSE types, whose ID we are not allowed to see made a very photogenic bunch I understand. When I asked their management rep who kept trying to get one what exactly CSE does – like “are you the people that data mine and go through our communications without permission” but she clammed up and didn’t seem willing to answer.

Thanks to all those that made this happen…I expect there will be more – and someday if this continues the government will have to realize we are back to before RAND formula times where workers will don’t ask permission to fix things, wait a year or two before reinstatement, and take care of bad bosses and management on the spot.