I have been involved since 1974 on countless strikes conducted by CUPW. Several lasted a long time.
In some situations, the employer brought in scabs and drove them through our picket lines to break our resolve.
I started in Scarborough Ontario and we held the line to stop the employer from introducing a new classification to deal with mechanized mail preparation. Because of that experience we had to strike again so that we could negotiate provisions for technological change.
The issues in those two strikes were remarkably similar to the present situation where the employer, among other concessions, seeks to create positions with lesser wages, benefits and security to deal with changing work and processes at Canada Post.
I was on picket lines in Scarborough, Vancouver, Nelson, Edmonton (as local president) and was also National Director and National Executive Board member during the 2011 strike when Stephen Harper and Pierre Poilievre legislated an end to the strike after only days of rotating strikes. That legislation aimed to destroy our pension plan and even reduced the employers wage offer at the time. These politicians are not there to help us as workers. A Liberal government jailed Jean Claude Parrot for standing up to them.
From my experience I have seen how strikes build our solidarity and create an environment of cooperation and support among workers. This solidarity will continue even after you return to work.
Strikes are a time when we question our futures at work and in society as a whole. We start to see the unfairness of the situation as it pertains to workers. The experience is remarkably similar in every local large and small across our country. Other union members from other occupations will join us on our picket lines and in our rally’s because they identify with our struggle.
During an extended strike some people will experience insecurity and some will face hardships that are frightening. We are all in.
John Bail (Retiree)