New CUPW Leadership Aims to Overturn Postal Cuts

OTTAWA, May 11, 2015 /CNW Telbec/ - The Canadian Union of Postal Workers has elected Mike Palecek, a postal worker from Vancouver local, the union's new National President. Jan Simpson became 1^st National Vice-president – the first black woman to sit on CUPW's National Executive Board.

Palecek is CUPW's youngest national president ever. He promises to bring a new energy and vigor to the fight against Conservative cuts to the postal service, saying "We are going to bring the fight to the Tories in the run-up to the federal election."

"We are going to make sure that every person who loses door to door delivery, every citizen that has to pay higher postage rates, everyone that has their local post office closed or downsized, knows that the blame for this lies squarely with Stephen Harper and his Conservative government."

Palecek promises a more aggressive stance for the union in the fight to protect public services and jobs. "The mandate from the delegates last week is for a change in direction, and change in culture. We've heard the call and we've already begun."

Simpson says, "We can be proud as a progressive union to have a worker of colour as national vice-president, and we'll be even prouder once we've defeated this Conservative government, preserved the public postal service that we all rely on, and saved thousands of jobs in a profitable crown corporation."

At the convention May 4-8, about 650 delegates representing the CUPW membership worked on union policy and elected national and regional leadership. The next CUPW national convention will be in 2019.

Also elected:

Beverly Collins, National Secretary-Treasurer
Peter Denley, National Grievance Officer
Dave Bleakney, 2^nd National Vice-President
George Floresco, 3^rd National Vice-President
Martin Champagne, 4^th National Vice-President
Carl Girouard, Chris Pleasants, Cathy Kennedy, Joanne Gomercich
National Union Representatives– Grievance and Arbitration
Rona Eckert, National Union Representative – Consultation
Marc Roussel, National Union Representative – Health & Safety
Denis Lemelin, National Union Representative under direction of the NEC
Yves Hénault, National Union Representative – Education - French
Richard Gaboton, National Union Representative – Education - English
Nicolas Presne, National Union Representative – Staffing
Aaron Spires, National Union Representative – External Organizing

Regional Contacts:

Jeff Callaghan – National Director, Atlantic region:
François Senneville – National Director, Quebec region:
Sylvain Lapointe – National Director, Metro-Montreal region:
Mark Evard – National Director, Central region:
Sanjay Sapra – National Director, Metro Toronto region:
Gerry Deveau  – National Director, Ontario region:
Gord Fischer – National Director, Prairie region:
Tim Armstrong – National Director, Pacific region:

SOURCE Canadian Union of Postal Workers

Related Links

http://www.cupw-sttp.org