Author: anju parmar

Bulletin #529

May 7, 2019

On May 1^st, the Consultative Committee on Benefits (CCB) had their annual spring meeting. The CCB committee consists of three unions: CUPW, Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) and the Canadian Post Masters and Assistants Association (CPAA) as well as Canada Post.

No Premium Increase 

At the spring meeting, we discuss the costs of our benefits and whether there will be a change in premiums. It has been decided that there will be no change in premiums for the next year. The monthly premiums will continue to be:

Benefit	Single Coverage	Family Coverage
EHCP RSMCs <12 hours	$1.14	$2.05
EHCP all others	$5.39	$9.72
Dental	$1.47	$3.28
Basic Life Insurance	$16.00*	n/a
Disability Insurance	$81.00*	n/a

*based on an employee with an annual salary of $50,000

The premium holiday for Hospital Option A and B is also maintained.

Benefit Provider

 At the May 1^st meeting Canada Post also informed us that they have put out a Request for Proposal (RFP) for all their benefit providers. Currently Great West Life is the benefit provider for EHCP, Dental, Vision and Hearing and Short Term Disability. Sun Life is the provider for Long Term Disability and Homewood is the provider for the Employee Assistance Program.

At this moment we do not know the impact, if any, it will have on the members but we have provisions in the Collective Agreements, which prevents changes in benefit levels. Once we know more we will update you.

Solidarity!

Cathy Kennedy

Negotiating Committee Member

Joanne Gomercich

National Union Representative

Grievance & Arbitration

 

May 3, 2019

Islam is not our enemy. Faithful and generous people are not a burden. Ignorance, stupidity and hatred should be our targets, not people of faith. Whether Jews in a California or Pittsburgh synagogue, Christians in a Sri Lankan cathedral, or worshippers at mosques in Quebec City or New Zealand, this can and must stop. Keep on reading

May 3,2019

Bulletin # 076

There have been many questions on how the retroactive wage increases will impact the pensions of those members who retired after December 31, 2017 (RSMC) or January 31, 2018 (Urban Ops) and those planning on retiring before the arbitrator’s decision is implemented. Canada Post has confirmed that the retroactivity shall apply to both wage increases and pension calculations.

Retroactive Wage Increases

Any members who have or will retire in the above mentioned period, will receive a retroactive payment, based on the wage increases for each day during this period that they received pay from Canada Post. There will be pension contributions withheld from this payment. Both CUPW and CPC have proposed wage increases for each year of the new collective agreements. However, we do not know yet how much those wage increases will be, as they shall be determined by the arbitrator.

Pension Retroactivity

• Those who retired after December 31, 2017 (RSMC) or January 31, 2018 (Urban Ops) will have their pension entitlement recalculated based on the wage increases and will receive a retroactive payment on their pension
• This adjusted pension amount will also be paid going forward.

We Must Protect Our Pensions!

In Solidarity,

Nancy Beauchamp

Chief Negotiator, RSMC Unit

Sylvain Lapointe

Chief Negotiator, Urban Unit

Narrow-minded Corporate Plan excludes new revenue streams and service expansion – For Immediate Release April 18, 2019

Ottawa – On April 16, 2019, Canada Post quietly tabled its Corporate Plan in Parliament and to no one’s surprise, at least not to the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW), the forecast was more doom and gloom.
“Canada Post has a history of projecting losses and then outperforming their projections, while using those projections to cry poor to the public and at the bargaining table,” says Mike Palecek, CUPW National President. “This plan underscores the Corporation’s aversion to building a sustainable post office of the future.”

CUPW was excited when the Liberal government announced in 2018 that its vision for Canada Post called for reinvestments into service initiatives and innovation. For years, the Union has championed growing Canada Post’s revenue from expanded and new services like postal banking, senior check-ins and more services at postal counters.

Instead, Canada Post’s plan looks to cut services, which would put an extra strain on an already overburdened workforce, where serious injuries have increased by 39 percent over the last two years.
The language in this plan suggests that Canada Post sees its employees as financial burdens, suggesting that pension payments and pay equity account for most of its perceived financial woes.

“For decades, Canada Post was not complying with pay equity law and exploiting women workers,” says Palecek. “Finally, these women have justice and Canada Post is in no position to complain about finally following the law.”
CUPW addressed all these issues at the bargaining table, and even made some headway with Canada Post until back-to-work legislation halted that work. “It’s time for us to go back to the bargaining table, resolve our issues and invest in the future of our post office,” says Palecek.

April 16 ,2019

Bulletin # 075

We began this hearing with the continued testimony of Geoff Bickerton on the history of RSMC negotiations. The hearing continued with committee member, Cathy Kennedy testifying about the pay equity process and Arbitrator Maureen Flynn’s decisions on pay equity.

Up Next

The evidence on some of the RSMC issues will continue on April 23 along with expert testimony from Richard Shillington on the percentage of coverage formula for letter carrier routes.

The arbitration will continue on May 6 and 7 with more evidence on RSMC issues.

Continue Your Actions

In the last bulletin we asked you to send messages to Canada Post’s new President and CEO Doug Ettinger to give direction to the Canada Post negotiators to get back to the table and negotiate. Send letters, make phone calls, send emails and be heard. Please continue and also copy your Member of Parliament with these messages.

We Want Negotiated Collective Agreements!