Coming off the recent news that Canada Post, the Crown Corporation, has begun laying off striking workers, many peers of mine, who even call themselves left-wing, were shocked by this development in the strike by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW).
This is largely the fault of the media coverage.
It has covered how the strike has inconvenienced social media influencer dogs, letters to Santa and caused billionaires to lose out on sales, along with the valid complaints from Canadians who have important packages, such as passports, halted in the mail since Nov. 15.
But little to no media coverage has gone towards the atrocious conditions many Canadian postal workers live with, causing the strike to be spurred.
CUPW has made their demands very clear. Among them are many reasonable expectations that anyone should expect from an efficient crown corporation: job security, improved protection for employees against harassment and technological change, better medical leave, wages that match inflation and the cost of living, better group benefits coverage, rest and meal periods, improved rights for On Call Relief Employees and maximizing and maintaining eight-hour routes for rural and suburban postal workers.
Little has been talked about in the media about some Canadian Post employees using food banks, precarious pension issues and an overall struggle to meet the cost of living.
While Canadian Post has been struggling financially, its solutions have not helped much with its insistence on using gig workers to fill a labour void.
When these two groups came together to negotiate and end the strike, what happened? Eight days of negotiation changed nothing. Canada Post left the table and stated that both parties needed to reconsider their positions shortly before laying employees off in what has been described as a scare tactic reminiscent of Reagan’s treatment of the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO) in 1981.
While PATCO workers were not allowed to return to work in any federal service, David Doorey, a York University professor in work law, has clarified in a blog that the law is clear on the point of striking workers having job rights entitling them to return to work after the conclusion of a strike.
Doorey voiced befuddlement at both Canada Post’s strategy in the treatment of CUPW workers and the legality of it. Large publications such as the Toronto Star bury this fact on the 16th page rather than on the cover with the majority of the printed story.
These private media enterprises cover the workers’ issues closer to how the robber barons of the Gilded Age would. Journalistically integral reporters should aim to disseminate information to the masses who hark to them so they can be properly informed with the facts they need to have an opinion.
Canadian media seems to have missed the story of this labour dispute. This isn’t only about numbers but also about how some Crown Corporation employees rely on social assistance despite having a job. Santa may not get his letters, but these workers have risked their Christmases to get a better deal.
The importance of proper dissemination of information has never been more pressing on the national conscious, and contemporary media has shown it cannot deliver anything but catchy headlines and half-baked coverage.
