CUPW asked NDP to end filibuster

The NDP filibustered Canada Post back to work legislation for almost 60 hours.

The Hill Times:

NDP filibuster ended early because CUPW concerned postal workers losing money

There were indications as early as Saturday morning that the protest did not have long to go, when one CBC Radio report from the scene ended with a reference to someone from the Canadian Union of Postal Workers saying the longer the 48,000 letter carriers were locked out, the more money they would lose.

Parliament Hill — A letter from the head of the postal workers’ union to NDP Leader Jack Layton last Saturday was the beginning of the end of the round-the-clock filibuster against back-to-work legislation, ending it so early that a Liberal in the Senate poked fun, comparing the New Democrats to “posers when it comes to filibusters.”

There were outside indications as early as Saturday morning that the protest did not have long to go, when one CBC Radio report from the scene ended with a reference to someone from the Canadian Union of Postal Workers saying the longer the 48,000 letter carriers were locked out, the more money they would lose.

What started as a series of rotating strikes by CUPW turned into a lockout on June 14, when Canada Post locked out the workers. Opposition MPs claim that was under the Harper government’s orders, which critics say was preparing the way for the back-to-work legislation as it intended to use the postal workers as a template for how it will handle program cuts over the next several years and the change in labour relations that might accompany the public service upheaval.

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From a few weeks back: