SOLIDARITY WITH POSTAL WORKERS

As a national union representing more than 55,000 workers across Turtle Island, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) has repeatedly condemned Israel’s military occupation, violations of international law and systemic oppression of the Palestinian people.

At the 2008 CUPW national convention, delegates won a majority vote in favour of endorsing the Palestinian call for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS), calling for economic pressure on Israel in the face of widespread abuses of Palestinians’ rights.

Incidentally, 2008 is the same year that the U.S. removed Nelson Mandela, internationally renowned human rights defender of the South African people, from the terrorist list.

In 2018, CUPW was the target of attacks following a decision by the union to work jointly with the Palestinian Postal Service Workers Union (PWSU). Recycling the same false, harmful, and disingenuous claims in 2018 that we are seeing deployed today, B’nai Brith claimed that CUPW was working with a “pro-terrorist” organization.

The fight against South African apartheid across Turtle Island by trade unionists was not easy, quick, nor straightforward. However, with incredible grassroots efforts, postal workers took action including the refusal to handle mail from South Africa.

Unions–then, as remains an unchanged fact of the labour movement–are fundamentally political organizations. Speaking out and taking concrete measures against injustice anywhere is not only part of what unions do but is a core function to a democratic society.

Workers everywhere deserve fair wages, safe workplaces, and respect at work and in their communities, from Turtle Island to Palestine.

Labour for Palestine stands in solidarity with thousands of postal workers on the picket line across the country.