FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 8, 2016
(TORONTO, ON) ─ Since the beginning of this year, 18,000 members of the Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) whom work for Canada Post have unjustifiably been without a contract and have been locked in drawn-out negotiations over equal pay for rural postal workers, job security and pension structure.
The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) and the Ontario Federation of Labour’s Secretary Treasurer Patty Coates will rally with postal workers, in Toronto, to call on Prime Minister Trudeau to get Canada Post onside with the federal government’s objectives to improve pensions, pay equity and the public postal service – Tuesday, August 9 at 10:30 a.m.
The CUPW has been attempting to negotiate pay equity for its female-dominated workforce of Rural and Suburban Mail Carriers (RSMCs), a bargaining unit of Canada Post. As highlighted in a recent letter from the OFL to the Prime Minister, members of RSMCs, 70 percent of whom are women, earn 28 percent less in wages and have significantly inferior pensions and benefits than the predominantly male-dominated unit of urban Letter Carriers.
“Canada Post is one of the worst perpetrators of gender discrimination in the federal public service and the corporation has refused to take key negotiation issues seriously,” said OFL Secretary Treasurer Patty Coates. “It is time for Prime Minister Trudeau to be the feminist he says he is and tell Canada Post to stop its sexism, get back to the bargaining table and negotiate a fair contract with postal workers, now.”
Who: Patty Coates, OFL Secretary Treasurer
Marie Clark Walker, Canadian Labour Congress Executive Director
Jan Simpson, CUPW First National Vice-President
Dave Bleakney, CUPW Second National Vice-President
Megan Whitfield, CUPW Toronto Local President
Mike Duquette, CUPW Scarborough Local President
When: Tuesday, August 9, 2016, 10:30 a.m.
Where: Bill Morneau, Minister of Finance’s Constituency Office, 430 Parliament Street, Toronto
What: Photo and audio opportunity with OFL Patty Coates, CUPW members, local & provincial labour advocates.
The OFL represents 54 unions and one million workers in Ontario. For information, visit www.OFL.ca and follow @OFLabour on Facebook and Twitter. To learn more about the OFL’s Make It Fair campaign, visit www.makeitfair.ca.
-30-
For further information:
Ogho Ikhalo, OFL Interim Communications Director: 416-443-7665 or oikhalo@ofl-org.flywheelsites.com *ENG*
