Canada Post Plays Fast and Loose with the Truth

The CUPW and its members have tried very hard to get Canada Post to reconsider plans to close the mail processing plant in Quebec City. We have sent letters, requested information, held demonstrations, rallied the support of the community and politicians and sent 130,000 names on a petition to the House of Commons in Ottawa.

The corporation has refused to listen to postal workers about how the Quebec plant closure will affect our members, our families and the community. It has refused to admit that it has not lived up to its obligations under the collective agreement. It has also refused to listen to the public - the people who own the post office. When management would not listen through the normal channels, a group of CUPW members took their concerns to a Canada Post director.

In response, Canada Post issued an Intercom notice entitled "CUPW Activist Tactics Disrespectful". The notice appears in the order books and employer representatives are using the contents to spread false information about the union to our members on the workfloor.

The Intercom notice is vague and highly accusatory.

What they say: The notice states that "a group of activists has recently begun a campaign of highly disrespectful behaviour targeting management, including inexcusable threats outside of the workplace".

What really happened: On November 7, 2005, about thirty members of the Québec City Local peacefully demonstrated outside the residence of a Canada Post director, on public property.

What they say: The notice insinuates that actions undertaken by a group of activists included "the mailing of obscene postcards".

What we know: No one from CUPW was shown these postcards and we do not know if these postcards were mailed by our members. If Canada Post was concerned about this issue, they should have contacted the union. The first time we heard about this was via the Intercom notice. So much for Canada Post's claims that both parties should "work towards resolving our differences through discussion".

What they say: The notice says that "a demonstration outside the residence of a Canada Post management representativeincluded throwing rocks at the individual's house."

What really happened: No rocks were thrown.

When the demonstrators first appeared, the Canada Post director initially toasted the demonstrators with a glass of wine from his living room. When he noticed the demonstrators leafleting his neighbours, he came out of his house and asked to speak with one of the demonstrators.

Four police cars arrived shortly after. The police told the director that he should get back inside and close the drapes. The demonstration ended.

The next day, Canada Post unilaterally cancelled that day's national consultation meeting scheduled to discuss the proposed closure of the Québec City plant and the effects on both Québec City and Montréal. Canada Post said they did not possess the "sérénité nécessaire" (required calmness) to have constructive consultation with the union.

However, Canada Post did have enough "sérénité nécessaire" to consult with their lawyers and apply to the Québec Superior Court for an injunction. The application was heard on November 10.

In his sworn affidavit to the court, the Canada Post director named a union officer as being one of the demonstrators. This particular union officer was, in fact, in Ottawa, 450 kilometers away, attending a meeting of the National Executive Board.

The judge who reviewed the employer's request for an injunction did not order an injunction as the union had already agreed not to picket or demonstrate at Canada Post management's homes throughout the province of Quebec until December 9, 2005.

The national grievance on the proposed Québec closure is being heard by arbitrator Guy Dulude. We are confident that the arbitrator's decision will also show that the employer has no respect for the truth or the collective agreement.