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November 6th, 2018

Liberals “Don’t See, Don’t Hear” Approach to Treatment of Sick and Vulnerable Postal Workers

OTTAWA – Today, Liberals on the Government Operations and Estimates Committee killed an urgent NDP motion to review Canada Post’s negotiating tactic to target sick and vulnerable workers in the current round of collective bargaining.

“It should be obvious to all Members that when workers don’t get paid, they can’t pay their bills. This was a simple motion to get to the bottom of what is going on with Canada Post,” said NDP MP Daniel Blaikie, who presented the motion. “The fact that the Liberals are not even willing to get the facts surrounding this disturbing situation and discuss the issue in public is appalling.”

When the Canadian Union of Postal Workers began a rotating strike on October 22nd, Canada Post ceased benefit payments to workers on short-term disability, long-term disability and maternity leave. It’s possible that other benefit payments may have also been terminated.

The review proposed by Blaikie would have allowed parliamentarians to assess the full extent of the cuts in benefits and understand the impact these cuts are having on Canadian workers throughout the country.

“After the last election, members of CUPW hoped there would be justice for workers,” added NDP Critic for Canada Post Irene Mathyssen. “These same workers are now being mistreated by their employer, a Canadian crown corporation, and the Liberals are shamefully choosing to run and hide instead of giving the situation and the workers a fair hearing.”