Canadian Union of Postal Workers

The Canadian Union of Poster Workers (CUPW) is a public-sector trade union representing over 50,000 postal workers including letter carriers, rural and suburban mail carriers, postal clerks, mail handlers and dispatchers, technicians and electricians, and others. CUPW formed in 1965 when postal workers defied government policies and staged an illegal, country-wide strike that would become one of the largest ‘wildcat’ strikes in Canadian history, resulting in the government extending collective bargaining rights to the entire public service. The union has a reputation for supporting political issues and movements, including the anti-war movement and the women’s movement. CUPW was the first federal union in Canada to win maternity leave in 1981.

Sources: cupw.ca, canadianlabour.ca/who-we-are/history/1965