On June 25, 2012, a group of American postal workers and allies began a hunger strike to protest a 2006 Congressional mandate to prefund retirement benefits for postal workers 75 years in advance.
This mandate is considered by many to be the main reason the USPS is having the financial difficulties that are behind the looming service cut backs and closures across America.
On June 28, 2012, the Vancouver local wrote to the American Postal Workers Union (APWU) expressing support for their struggle. The local received the following reply:
Mr. Robert Mulvin President – CUPW Local 846 4530 Dawson Street Burnaby,.BC V5C 4Cl Canada
Dear Brother Mulvin:
Thank you for your kind words of support for the struggle of American postal workers. We are fighting for the survival of a great public institution that serves all of our citizens – rich or poor, urban or rural. A congressionally-manufactured crisis threatens the Postal Service and hundreds of thousands of stable, middle-class, union jobs.
We appreciate your support, and support Canadian postal workers in your struggle for a fair contract and pay equity.
Thank you,
In solidarity, Cliff Guffey President
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