Postal workers' union research says economic impact of strike & lockout was overblown

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) has published a research paper that says the June 2011 strike and lock-out did not have the catastrophic negative effect on the economy that was claimed by critics and the government at the time. It says that the cost to Canada Post was only about $58 million. The paper was presented this spring to an international conference; the Rutgers University Conference on Postal and Delivery Economics in Brighton, United Kingdom. A release on the CUPW website says:

'Last June, the Harper government argued it had to legislate CUPW members back-to-work to protect the economy,' said CUPW National President Denis Lemelin.  'But our paper reveals that the impact of the postal disruption on the economy was negligible, as measured by bankruptcy and employment data.'

"Not only that, the labour disruption only cost Canada Post about $58 million, not 'hundreds of millions' as claimed by Canada Post President Deepak Chopra,' said Lemelin.

The paper also shows that while some businesses were negatively affected, there is no evidence the rotating strikes threatened their viability. It shows charities, non-profit organizations, seniors groups, and rural and remote organizations experienced some temporary negative impacts.

'The paper demonstrates that postal back-to-work legislation, which was passed one year ago today, was not enacted for economic reasons, ' said Lemelin. 'It was enacted because our government has it out for workers.'

The whole research paper can be downloaded here as a pdf.

A large number of businesses and organizations across the country, including not-for-profits, seniors groups and charities, were surveyed as part of the research. Among the business organizations polled were the Canadian Marketing Association, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, the National Association of Major Mail Users and Magazines Canada. The study paraphrased president Mark Jamison's June 15 2011 letter to Labour Minister Lisa Raitt emphasizing the importance of postal delivery to Canadian-content magazines. The CUPW researchers requested an estimate of the number of workforce reductions that may have occurred as a result of the disruption, but says it did not receive a response.

Two year lockout of Journal de Montréal journalists ends with 75% losing their jobs

Not with a bang, but a whimper. The ground-down employees of the Journal de Montréal voted on Saturday night to accept the latest offer from their employer, Quebecor Media.
Thereby,comes to an end a two-year struggle after 253 employees were locked out by management. The result is that 63 of the employees will return to work and the remaining 190 will lose their jobs and receive a total of about $20 million in severance (averaging about $105,000 each).

The employees can point to a slightly better deal than one they rejected overwhelmingly in October, which would have seen only 50 jobs. But there is no way to sugarcoat the defeat. According to a story in the Montreal Gazette

Many of the workers exiting the room expressed anger and disappointment at the result of the vote.
"It's a defeat for me, and for my friends," Jessica Nadeau said. "I just can't believe the way this ended. I've been fighting with everything I had. ... It's just ... I don't have the words right now.
"I wanted to keep fighting."
Other employees expressed their sadness at the results, but said they understood that people were tired after two years locked out of work.

It's not clear whether the alternative newspaper Rue Frontenac, started by some locked-out employees, will continue to publish. It is said the paper had reached about 80,000 readers a week during the lockout.

At a committee meeting at the Quebec National Assembly earlier this month, Quebecor CEO Pierre Karl Péladeau blamed "union intransigence" for prolonging the lockout, accusing the employees of resisting technological change and what he called "a tsunami" sweeping the newspaper industry.. He welcomed proposed changes to the Quebec labour code and its so-called "anti-scab" provisions.The changes would allow the use of replacement workers and outsourcing jobs.

Locked out Journal de Montreal staff ramp up pressure with print version of Rue Frontenac paper

It won't be the first time that a new print publication emerged from a labour-management dispute. But the announcement is that Rue Frontenac, a newspaper published by locked-out workers of the Journal de Montreal is augmenting its online self with a weekly print version starting next month. According to a story in the Gazette, the online site emerged a week after the January 24, 2009 lockout by Quebecor of 253 members of the Syndicate des travailleurs de l'information.

The new paper will be launched even though a mediator appointed less than a month ago by the Quebec Labour Department continues attempts to help settle the dispute, said Richard Bousquet, vice-president of the union's editorial component....

The new Rue Frontenac tabloid will start at 48 pages with a press run of at least 50,000 copies - although "probably more than that" - and offer a considerably broader variety of content than ruefrontenac.com, Bousquet said.
Special investigative features, analysis and columns will augment news, sports, business and culture coverage, he added.

The paper will be distributed across the Montreal region, from St. Jerome, north of Montreal Island, to St. Jean sur Richelieu to the south and be be handed out in person at street corners in central Montreal and elsewhere by locked-out workers aiming to bring attention to the dispute. Bousquet acklowledges that the printed version, like the website, is "a pressure tactic".