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Locked-out postal workers occupy Tory MP's offices

Canadian postal workers and their community allies took over Conservative MP's offices across Western Canada on Monday morning to deliver a message to the Harper government. They want the Tories to withdraw proposed back to work legislation, end the lock out that has closed postal service across Canada and return to collective bargaining to resolve outstanding contract issues at Canada Post.

Aaron Spires, one of the union members involved in the BC office occupation told The Tyee that the main issues for him and other postal workers was a government plan to establish two tier wages at the Post Office, with newly hired workers slated to make as much as four dollars an hour less than current employees.

"This is a classic attempt to bust the union and divide workers," he said. Another concern he cited was a new "two bundle" system of mail handling undergoing a pilot project test in Winnipeg, where it has already, Spires said, seen injury reports go up dramatically.

Speaking from the North Vancouver offices of Conservative MP Andrew Saxton, Spires, a member of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) told The Tyee that he and a group of other union members and community supporters had occupied Sexton's office at 10:00 a.m. this morning. As of 11:30 a.m., there had been no contact between the union occupiers and local police.

Similar occupations had occurred simultaneously at the Edmonton constituency office of Rona Ambrose and the Winnipeg office of Shelly Glover. (Ambrose, formerly Minister of Labour, is now Minister of Public Works and Government Services. Saxton is Parliamentary Secretary to the President of Treasury Board, while Glover serves as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance.)

CUPW had conducted small, rotating strike actions across Canada for 12 days until last week, when the federal government responded first by cutting mail deliveries to three days a week and then by locking out its postal workers nationwide. Back to work legislation was being debated in Parliament today as the occupations took place.

"We are going to stay in this office until the government withdraws the lock out and the back to work legislation," said Spires. "We hope the public will come by to support us. We deliver an important public service, and all we want is to settle our issues through collective bargaining, which the Supreme Court has recognized as a Charter right."

"Today we are saying to the Canadian government and to Canada Post that the only way a just resolution to the labour dispute will be achieved is through negotiations at the bargaining table. Postal workers and the communities we serve are united in opposition to any legislation that takes away our rights to free collective bargaining," said Mike Palacek, another of the postal workers occupying Saxton's office.

Tom Sandborn welcomes feedback and story tips at [email protected].

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