The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) slammed for attending anti-Israel conference.

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) slammed for attending anti-Israel conference.(SN).OTTAWA - Postal union members attending a political conference in Brazil had the chance to rub elbows this week with supporters of a listed terror group and its leader. The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) was in Porto Alegre for the World Social Forum's "Free Palestine" conference, which wrapped Saturday.
There, the five-person delegation had the option of attending a conference session devoted to calling for the release of Ahmad Saadat from an Israeli jail.
Saadat was sentenced in 2008 to 30 years behind bars for heading the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). Israel suspects he helped orchestrate the 2001 assassination of Israeli tourism minister Rehavam Zeevi by the PFLP - a militant group with a history of violence founded on Marxist-Leninist ideology.
In 2003, Public Safety Canada listed the PFLP as a group associated with terrorism for its history of hijacking planes and the use of suicide bombers and car bombings.
CUPW didn not return calls Saturday for an interview. It's not known whether their delegates attended the workshop and CUPW documents say it supports only non-violent opposition to Israel.
Tory MP Pierre Poilievre - who supports optional union dues and backs legislation seeking to open their books - called the trip "indefensible.""What does any of this have to do with representing the interests of postal workers?" he asked.
On Friday, CUPW national president Denis Lemelin defended flying members to the conference despite its political bent.
"The union is there to represent the members but I think the union is (also) there to develop social and political views about what's happening globally," he told QMI Agency.
Lemelin pointed to a resolution ratified by CUPW members in 2008 calling for a boycott and sanctions against Israel.Read the full story here.