Canada Post’s demand for rollbacks – What do they mean for me? Part 3

Canada Post rollbacks

How will they affect me

Canada Post wants to change the short term disability qualifying period from zero (0)days if you are hospitalized or in an accident to seven (7) days.

This puts huge stress on workers and their families when they are hospitalized or in an accident. It penalizes people who have heart attacks, strokes, or who are having surgery.

It also penalizes people who are in accidents.

We don’t need that additional financial stress when we are hospitalized or in an accident.

Study after study has shown that when people are stressed, they take longer to heal. So, Canada Post’s own demand will mean that we will have to be off work longer.

Canada Post wants to eliminate your ability to use your annual leave credits to cover the waiting period to get short term disability.

This is another example of Canada Post putting even more stress on people who are sick. It means that instead of concentrating on getting better, we have to worry about finances.

Canada Post wants to eliminate comp time.

Many people work overtime, and instead of getting paid for it, save it as comp time to use to spend more time with their friends and families. Eliminating comp time means we will have less ability to have time off and to participate in important occasions.

Eliminating comp time could also backfire for Canada Post, as there is a possibility that fewer people will work overtime.

Eliminating comp time would also result in a loss of jobs.

Canada Post wants to eliminate superimposing of vacation leave for letter carriers and MSCs.

This will result in worse vacation leave choices for all letter carriers and Mail Service Couriers. It will be harder to get vacation weeks together, and there will be less vacation leave blocks. People look forward to their vacation leave as a chance to relax.

Canada Post wants to be able to close down and contract out even more retail counters.

This means a loss of jobs for PO4s. It also means worse service for the public as many people have raised concerns about the service they receive at private retail counters.

Canada Post wants to end the time a shop steward takes to conduct grievance investigations. They also want to make changes which would allow managers and supervisors to intimidate members, using threats such as refusing to pay members when they meet with their shop steward.

Whether or not you have filed a grievance, the current provisions that Canada Post wants to change are a protection for every worker. The current provisions make it harder for CPC to violate the collective agreement without any consequences.

These current provisions provide protections for everyone.

Canada Post wants to eliminate days in lieu—the ability to take a day off when a statutory holiday falls during your vacation leave.

Days in lieu allow postal workers to take time off with pay to attend their children’s plays or sporting events, to participate in family engagements, and to make plans for a specific day. Eliminating days in lieu is another way Canada Post wants to make our work/family balance more difficult.

Eliminating days in lieu also will result in a loss of jobs.

Canada Post wants to reduce vacation pay for temporary workers from 6% to 4% (for the first five years someone is a temporary worker).

This takes money out of the pockets of temporary workers. It means they will have less money.