For as far back as we all can recall we have lived in a world of unrestricted capitalism dominated by an elite few who speak in the cold dead language of globalization and competitive world markets. This fictional world they have created is not unlike the one created internally by Canada Post. The top tiers of Canada Post’s hierarchy feel they control everything- power, prosperity, and privilege-while our membership struggles as the working class, ruthlessly oppressed and increasingly enduring deteriorating work conditions. There is one set of rules and regulations for us: there is a complete other set of rules and regulations for the employer that functions as a corporate mafia.
The employer saturates our work floors with manufactured messages of “doom and gloom” surrounding our future and the essential steps we must undertake in order to survive globally in a highly competitive market. This ideology has become increasingly dogmatic and it suggests that we the workers will be made to feel the effects if Canada post should fail. This fear mongering ideology has been crafted and imposed on us deliberately and disguised as Postal Transformation. The reality is that the responsibility ultimately falls onto the lap of Canada Post’s senior management. They have executed flawed restructures, removed services to the public, fractured the pension plan, and squandered multiple opportunities to remain viable for the long-term. These actions have severely harmed our Public Post Office. It still remains to be seen whether this was by accident or by design. Either way they only need to look in the mirror to discover who was responsible.
The corporation would have you believe that the union must structure its behavior and vision around the demands and shortfalls of the current corporate manufactured economic stagnancy. This is an absurd ideology. The airy assurances of the market economy have, by now been uncovered as false. Canada Post, through a Stephen Harper sponsored lockout, imposed a two tier wage structure, decimated our sick leave and suppressed the rights of injured workers. This is now forcing large portions of our membership into years of financial and physical servitude.
The ability of Canada Post to perpetuate these expectations has severely obstructed our resolve and willingness to rise up. Throughout Canada, Postal Transformation has tightened its noose around the necks of our brothers and sisters. In the plants, inside postal workers are separated from the herd like animals; they are constantly monitored and evaluated on their performance. They are increasingly expected to maintain production quotas and when their productivity consistently meets expectations, the brutes in Ottawa raise the production quotas. And when you are on the verge of collapse, you are rewarded with a break in a rest pod embedded in the heart of the production line with no walls or privacy. Outside postal workers face a different yet equally harsh burden. In depots across the country Postal Transformation has paved the way to institutions where workers are expected to endure marathon sized routes with little or no opportunity to access rest facilities or recover from the extreme weather elements. This is coupled with large amounts of forced overtime and escalating pressure and bullying on the part of the supervisors whom expect you to complete your route in eight hours. The greater the destruction, the greater the instrument crushing dissent.
Locally we have faded into a fog. The lack of engagement and participation shown by the membership has seriously harmed our ability to fight back. The tireless unwavering efforts of our local officers partnered with the executive and other activists are becoming but a faint sound in the fog. We are facing the largest crises our local has ever seen. As we stumble through the murk we may find ourselves on the edge of a cliff, staring down at our eventual self-destruction, and the crocodiles of the corporation will be licking their chops and smacking their lips in anticipation of our fall. What will our fate be? Only you can determine that.
Stand up. Even if you fail, even if we all fail, we will have asserted against the unfairness of the employer. We will have defended what we consider to be hallowed. Our resistance requires steadfast defiance and refusing to surrender. It means saying no. It is Canada Post who thrust us into this war. Not us. Unions across this world have succumbed to the decimation and deregulation of corporations worldwide. Corporations are on a voyage of self-destruction yet firmly believe that no one has the power, even if they are aware of what lies ahead, to be able or willing to get in their way. Many of those involved in the labour movement around the world did not have the support or the courage to defy the corporations. Like them we are on the same path to disintegration. Their warning must become ours. Rise up or fall to ashes.
In Solidarity,
Chris Zukowsky
Education Director
la/CUPE-3338