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The International Labour Organisation has released a decision in the complaint against the Canadian government surrounding the back-to-work legislation which was imposed on CUPW members during a dispute in 2011. The ILO decision reasserts postal workers’ rights to free association and right to strike as fundamental labour rights. The ILO has determined that the back-to-work legislation was unjustified and unduly interrupted the collective bargaining process between CUPW and Canada Post Corporation and instructs the Canadian government to avoid right-to-work legislation in the postal sector in the future.



CUPW President Denis Lemelin heralded the decision in statement, saying “This is a wonderful victory for the CUPW and the entire Canadian labour movement. The ILO decision is clear. The right to strike is a fundamental right and, in the future, the Canadian government must respect the rights of workers to negotiate and, if necessary, strike.”



The ILO decision also recognised that CUPW and CPC had a previously-agreed protocol for delivering social insurance cheques and other minimum standards even in the event of a dispute. The ILO found that the lockout by Canada Post made the provision of that minimum service impossible and that the government “should have limited its intervention to guaranteeing compliance with the negotiated minimum services.”



UNI Global Union, along with the Canadian Labour Congress and the International Trade Union Confederation, associated itself with the CUPW complaint and join Canadian postal workers in lauding the ILO decision.