Letters went unread, bills remained unpaid, orders sat unfilled — and tempers flared. The postal strike of 1981 brought mail across the country to a grinding halt. In the ever-changing tides of public opinion, no clear victor emerged. Instead, frustrated Canadians have been waiting for the two sides to find common ground on issues including paid maternity leave and compensation for shift work. Postal carriers and sorters walked out on June 30 and are now returning to work 42 days later.

• Import and export orders were estimated to be backlogged six months to one year for small businesses because of the strike.
• More than 80 per cent of CUPW's 23,000 members voted to accept the terms of the contract offered in August.
• Among the major concessions CUPW won was 17 weeks of paid maternity leave. The only other group in the public sector who also enjoyed this provision was the Common Front of public sector workers in Quebec.

• CUPW has been a part of 19 major labour disputes between 1965 and 2002.
• In October 1981, the post office was converted into a Crown corporation. CUPW had lobbied vigilantly for this change. It hoped that since this change would place the union under the Canada Labour Code, future labour negotiations would be more straightforward.

Medium: Television
Program: The National
Broadcast Date: July 22, 1981
Reporter: Paul Workman
Guest(s): Judge Alan Gold
Duration: 1:36