About 50 members of the American Postal Workers Union and the National Association of Letter Carriers gathered on Pennsylvania Avenue down the street from Capitol Hill in a visible and full-throated show of support for Canada Post employees.
Brandishing hand-lettered placards and a bullhorn, they chanted slogans, sang pro-union songs and marched outside the embassy, all under the watchful eye of uniformed members of the U.S. Secret Service, which protects Washington’s foreign missions, as well as the White House.
“We’re here in solidarity with the Canadian Union of Postal Workers and our counterparts in Canada who move the mail every day with pride and serve the people of Canada and of the United States,” said APWU president Mark Dimondstein.
“We’re also here to condemn the Trudeau government, in terms of taking away and denying workers their legal right to withhold their labour to get a good contract.”
A dispute over wages, benefits and job security culminated last October in a series of temporary rotating walkouts at Canada Post facilities in various places across Canada, throwing local and regional mail delivery services into disarray.