Postal union to fight back-to-work legislation in court
BY TERESA SMITH, POSTMEDIA NEWS JUNE 29, 2011 10:38 AM
STORY
The 15-member national executive board of CUPW has decided to take the federal government to court over last week's back-to-work legislation.
Photograph by: Aaron Lynett, National Post
OTTAWA — Letters and bills may returning to your mailbox, but the union representing Canada's postal workers says this fight is far from over.
The 15-member national executive board of CUPW has decided to take the federal government to court over last week's back-to-work legislation.
Nearly 50,000 locked-out Canada Post workers were forced back to their jobs this week under settlement terms arranged by government.
Gerry Deveau, national director for the Ontario region of the CUPW, says Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms contains the right to belong to a union and Canada's labour code protects the right to collective bargaining.
It's on those grounds, the union wants to file a legal challenge, he said.
"The government intervention here is stripping us of those rights," Deveau said.
He said the union will consult with legal counsel Wednesday and for the rest of this week. He said he anticipates launching the challenge by next week.
Canada Post spokesman Jon Hamilton said Wednesday morning he hadn't heard anything about the possible court case.
"We're focused on delivering the mail and serving Canadians," he said.
The court case will target one of the main sticking points over the bill — the wage settlements.
The government legislated a wage increase of 1.57 per cent, which is lower than the 1.9 per cent that Canada Post had put on the table earlier this month in negotiations with its workers.
"We want to challenge the government legislating us back to work at less than what the corporation offered at a time when the cost of living is far greater than what the government has imposed upon us," Deveau said.
Canada Post locked out its employees on June 14, after the Canadian Union of Postal Workers conducted 12 days of rotating strikes.
Labour Minister Lisa Raitt then introduced the back-to-work legislation.
Opposition MPs condemned the bill as a whole, saying it undermined workers' rights to collective bargaining.
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more:http://www.canada.com/business/Postal+union+fight+back+work+legislation+court/5023096/story.html#ixzz1QgI4dS8V
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