One of the noticeable and encouraging elements of this strike that I have noticed—in addition to the legendary solidarity shown by the workers themselves—is the active participation of retirees across the country on the picket lines, at support rallies and in social media.
I’m one of those retiree supporters. And I’m sure my reasons for participating in solidarity actions are very much the same as the other “old timers” that younger workers may have noticed at these events.
For one thing, several of the pressing issues in 2024 are remarkably similar to the issues when CUPW members of my generation hit the streets fifty years ago or so. My first national strike was in 1974, when the overriding issue was Canada Post’s attempt to impose a 2-tier wage system on new hires—mainly women and racialized workers hired during the first wave of automation. Postal workers in full solidarity won that battle.
Later, the obsession of the employer with attempts to divide workers using the same kind of technique continued unabated.
So, it is no surprise that the current attack of the Corporation features totally unacceptable “tiered” conditions such as establishing a group of “precarious” workers on the weekends outrageously limited to 8 hours work per week. It’s been accurately described as a “race to the bottom”.
Likewise, my fellow retirees and I are totally appalled by the attempt to strip away the Defined Benefit Pension plan from future retirees that guarantees cost of living increases. This plan was fought for and won in past struggles and its replacement by a market-based Defined Contribution Pension plan geared to reducing, rather than improving the lives of retirees. This is a step backwards to an earlier century
There are many other concession items in the Corporation’s sorry excuse for a collective agreement “offer” that illustrate how important it is for active members and retirees to stand together with a determined insistence that this strike will advance postal workers’ wages, rights, benefits and power in the workplace. What I’ve seen of the strength on the picket lines tells me this stands a great chance of success. This is encouraging and exciting to a retiree like me.
I want to mention one important further matter that motivates me to actively support this strike. The anti-union model pursued by the Corporation in its demands is one that, if adopted, would render all its workers instantly replaceable and the union representing them basically powerless. To this end it has for some years promoted the development of a precarious workforce and entertained the prospect of privatization on the not-too-distant horizon.
Retirees, for many years during our working lives were in the middle of struggles to advance a completely opposing agenda— one that promoted a vision of a public Postal Service that uses the huge Post Office infrastructure to expand services through plans like those advanced in CUPW’s “Delivering Community Power”—and to ensure good, meaningful and unionized jobs for generations into the future.
I’m committed to supporting this important project, which can be realized with the united strength and power of CUPW workers, retirees, the labour movement and our many supporters in communities across Canada.
Winning this strike and continuing the fight for a public postal service will require a lot of work, to be sure.
But here’s one retiree, along with many others, who embrace that struggle. We take our inspiration from the active members of CUPW on strike who are showing the way. SOLIDARITY!
Evert Hoogers (Retiree)