Our Community Union: Building a movement to win
Gig Workers United 10-4 is a community union in a labour partnership with the Canadian Union of Postal
Workers (CUPW). Gig workers struggle side by side with CUPW to improve the conditions for workers in the
gig economy and to engage in political actions.
We seek to build power by organizing a community for couriers that is democratically led by couriers; we
have each other's backs and we make the decisions! We’re not here to cut easy deals with bosses that don’t
actually improve conditions for workers. We’re here to win the rights we should be entitled to and for too
long have been deprived of. Whether we’re building power to unionize and collectively bargain with one of
the app employers, or scaling-up our organizing to challenge the economic, housing, food and immigration
injustice that gig workers live under, it is about building the power to win real and tangible gains for
workers.
Migrant workers, women and trans people, and racialized people are disproportionately affected the
exploitative working conditions in the gig economy. As a union and a community, we intentionally uplift
precarious workers to be leaders in our union. We acknowledge that a worker is anyone who completes
deliveries on an app platform; whether they do that on their own account— or someone else’s. All of you
may claim space within our union.
Community organizing is central to challenging the precariousness of our workplace and the resulting
instability of our economic, immigration, and social positions in Canada. Around the world, gig workers
are organizing in creative and inspiring ways - Gig Workers United is part of that movement for change.
In an increasingly isolating workplace and world, we know that we are strong because
workers, like you, are part of our organization. All of us have experiences, knowledge, and a voice that
matters to our union and our collective future. Connecting with our fellow workers by
riding/walking/driving the streets of our cities, by working within the steward system of our union, or
participating in committees; is the greatest joy of our work. This joy is also our power. As we build our
union we cultivate a place where we all belong, and with this power, we will win our rights.