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Canadian Postal Workers Walk Out Over Mail Seen As Homophobic
by The Canadian Press
October 26, 2006 - 7:00 pm ET
(Vancouver, British Columbia) Neither rain, nor hail, nor sleet, nor snow nor refusal to deliver an anti-gay pamphlet will keep the mail from getting through.
That seemed to be the message Thursday from Canada Post in reacting to a brief walkout over the letter carriers union's refusal to deliver a pamphlet the union regards as ``homophobic'' and ``hate mail.''
The problem began Wednesday when letter carriers at Station F on the city's east side were told they had to carry the pamphlets or face disciplinary action, said Ken Mooney, the Vancouver local president of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers.
``One person actually refused to touch it and there were others who said they are not going to deliver it,'' said Mooney.
But Canada Post spokeswoman Colleen Frick had a different version, saying the only postie required to carry it on his route was being ``intimidated'' by his colleagues.
``He did not refuse it,'' she said. ``He was basically intimidated into not delivering it and that's not appropriate.''
The pamphlet is the September edition of The Prophetic Word, published by the Fundamentalist Baptist Mission in Waterford, Ont. The article that prompted the dispute was called The Plague of this 21st Century: The Consequences of the sin of Homosexuality (AIDS).
The pamphlet says AIDS is ``the plague of the 21st century'' and calls homosexuality ``ungodly, unhealthy and unnatural.''
``It's homophobic,'' said Mooney. ``It's really offensive.''
Mooney said the corporation should not be in the business of delivering ``hate mail.''
Frick said ``hate mail'' is not a legal term she was aware of and ``it's not in the (Canada Post Corporation Act).
``So we don't speak about mail in terms of this and we're not about to go into the business of defining what hate mail is,'' she said.
The corporation has mailing standards concerning obscene material but ``there is nothing that would term this as being obscene material,'' she said.
By Thursday, the issue seemed to have cooled but was not settled.
Mooney maintains the 50 letter carriers were told they would not have to carry the pamphlet.
But Frick countered that they didn't have to carry it _ on Thursday.
``It will be delivered at some point in the next two days,'' she said, explaining that the corporation has three days to deliver admail from the time it arrives at the depot.
The posties don't have the right to refuse to deliver the mail, she said. The contract between the corporation and the union requires them to deliver mail the corporation deems acceptable.
``And this item was deemed such.''
She said she was certain the 200 pamphlets would be delivered by some carrier in the depot.
Mooney acknowledged the possibility of disciplinary action if all carriers refuse.
``They may want to adjust the attitude of some employees,'' he said.
A spokesperson for the sender of the pamphlet was not immediately available to comment.
Neither Mooney nor Frick knew why that small area of the east side was targeted for the pamphlet _ and nowhere else in B.C. so far.
The union's national office has not taken an official stance so far, but Mooney said the union's constitution states that carriers must take every step to ``eliminate racism, discrimination and homophobia from our workplaces.''
by The Canadian Press
October 26, 2006 - 7:00 pm ET
(Vancouver, British Columbia) Neither rain, nor hail, nor sleet, nor snow nor refusal to deliver an anti-gay pamphlet will keep the mail from getting through.
That seemed to be the message Thursday from Canada Post in reacting to a brief walkout over the letter carriers union's refusal to deliver a pamphlet the union regards as ``homophobic'' and ``hate mail.''
The problem began Wednesday when letter carriers at Station F on the city's east side were told they had to carry the pamphlets or face disciplinary action, said Ken Mooney, the Vancouver local president of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers.
``One person actually refused to touch it and there were others who said they are not going to deliver it,'' said Mooney.
But Canada Post spokeswoman Colleen Frick had a different version, saying the only postie required to carry it on his route was being ``intimidated'' by his colleagues.
``He did not refuse it,'' she said. ``He was basically intimidated into not delivering it and that's not appropriate.''
The pamphlet is the September edition of The Prophetic Word, published by the Fundamentalist Baptist Mission in Waterford, Ont. The article that prompted the dispute was called The Plague of this 21st Century: The Consequences of the sin of Homosexuality (AIDS).
The pamphlet says AIDS is ``the plague of the 21st century'' and calls homosexuality ``ungodly, unhealthy and unnatural.''
``It's homophobic,'' said Mooney. ``It's really offensive.''
Mooney said the corporation should not be in the business of delivering ``hate mail.''
Frick said ``hate mail'' is not a legal term she was aware of and ``it's not in the (Canada Post Corporation Act).
``So we don't speak about mail in terms of this and we're not about to go into the business of defining what hate mail is,'' she said.
The corporation has mailing standards concerning obscene material but ``there is nothing that would term this as being obscene material,'' she said.
By Thursday, the issue seemed to have cooled but was not settled.
Mooney maintains the 50 letter carriers were told they would not have to carry the pamphlet.
But Frick countered that they didn't have to carry it _ on Thursday.
``It will be delivered at some point in the next two days,'' she said, explaining that the corporation has three days to deliver admail from the time it arrives at the depot.
The posties don't have the right to refuse to deliver the mail, she said. The contract between the corporation and the union requires them to deliver mail the corporation deems acceptable.
``And this item was deemed such.''
She said she was certain the 200 pamphlets would be delivered by some carrier in the depot.
Mooney acknowledged the possibility of disciplinary action if all carriers refuse.
``They may want to adjust the attitude of some employees,'' he said.
A spokesperson for the sender of the pamphlet was not immediately available to comment.
Neither Mooney nor Frick knew why that small area of the east side was targeted for the pamphlet _ and nowhere else in B.C. so far.
The union's national office has not taken an official stance so far, but Mooney said the union's constitution states that carriers must take every step to ``eliminate racism, discrimination and homophobia from our workplaces.''