Most parents today take for granted benefits such as paid maternity and parental leave. But, like many of the benefits we enjoy today, paid maternity leave was won only through struggle.
In August 1981, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) won paid maternity leave after a 42-day strike. CUPW was the first national union to take the issue on in the workplace. This was a hard-fought battle, particularly for the women workers, who made up 43 percent of the union. While there was opposition in some union locals, from both male and female workers, 23,000 Canada Post workers walked out in June 1981 with an 84 percent strike vote. The existing policy was six months’ unpaid leave, the norm among most work places.
The union was pitted against a federal Liberal government that was determined not to allow paid maternity leave to set a precedent for the 300,000 other public servants. It wasn’t only the cost that was a key issue for the Liberal government. Only one percent of the workforce would take it each year. They were worried that other government departments and the private sector would be forced to follow suit.
Despite the counterattacks from the media, government and business, with the union’s demand for paid maternity leave being called “selfish,” the strength of the campaign came from the union’s work to establish ties with the National Action Committee on the Status of Women and about 500 women’s groups across Canada. One of the women strikers said, “We did whatever the hell we needed to, and the union supported us.”
In the end, the Canadian government was no match for the militancy of CUPW and their allies in the women’s movement. CUPW won full wages for the first two weeks of leave and a top up of unemployment benefits for the next 15 weeks, giving employees 93 percent of their salary. The New York Times said then, “Canadian unions have a reputation for militancy.” Sadly, it is doubtful that word would be used today to describe most unions. However, to win and keep real gains for the working class, this is exactly what is needed.
