Category: Bulletins

At 10:00 p.m. EDT, the following locals will commence 24-hour strike action. These locals were chosen to highlight the negative impact of unnecessary service cutbacks introduced by Canada Post Corporation.

• Breton, NS  (Sydney, North Sydney, Sydney Mines, New Waterford and Glace Bay)
• Fredericton, NB
• Mauricie, QC
• Sherbrooke, QC
• Corner Brook, NL
• Cornwall, ON
• Windsor, ON
• Niagara Falls, ON
• Regina, SK
• Nanaimo, BC (10:00 p.m. local time).

Tonight, the Red Deer local will return to work ending its 48-hour walkout.

Press Conference Tomorrow:

CUPW will hold a press conference tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. EDT at 377 Bank St. Ottawa.

Red Deer CUPW members remain on strike. Reports indicate good public support.

Meetings Continue

Last night and today, meetings continued with the participation of both chief negotiators and the mediator. Issues discussed included Group 2 work methods and the methodology used in costing the wage proposals.

CPC Continues to Reject CUPW’s Offer to Suspend Strike, Provided Contract in Effect

CPC has refused to comply with the Labour Minister’s request to provide five-day delivery and has rejected CUPW’s offer to suspend our strike, provided the collective agreement is put back into force.

CPC Moving Backwards Quickly

Last night, CPC issued a statement claiming that the Union wanted to “start over” negotiations. The recent record shows clearly it is CPC management who is trying to start over from the beginning. In the past few days, CPC has withdrawn the following proposals they had previously tabled:

• Calculation of bar charts
• Heavy duty truck mechanics
• Mechanism to convert group 1 part-time hours into full-time positions
  (900 hours averaged over 30 weeks)
• Time values for admail
• Joint study of banking and financial services

NEB Planning Strategy

The National Executive Board is in Ottawa and will be meeting to plan our strategy.

Canada Post’s Response

Today, in response to a request from Labour Minister Lisa Raitt, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers agreed to suspend our strike activity. Our only condition was that the terms of our collective agreement would be reinstated. At 6 p.m. this evening, we received conformation that Canada Post management was rejecting our offer. Management’s current attitude is much different than it was in 1991 when CUPW suspended our strike action to assist mediation efforts. At that time, CPC agreed to reinstate the collective agreement.

Drug Coverage to Resume

Yesterday, we raised the issue of CPC’s decision to stop drug coverage. We explained this was causing enormous hardship for many of our members, especially those on disability insurance who were taken completely by surprise by CPC’s unilateral decision. Today, following the Union’s intervention, CPC’s Chief Operating Officer Jacques Côté informed us that drug coverage would be reinstated but with a deductible of $100.00 per prescription. The plan would cover 80% of all covered medicines. The Union has requested that the Corporation provide this in writing in order to fully understand the commitment in question.

CPC Keeps Moving Backwards

At yesterday’s meeting, CPC reneged on more of their previously published positions. They told us that they were withdrawing their proposal for arbitration of their demand for a Short-Term Disability Plan. Instead, they are back to demanding that the plan be implemented effective January 1, 2012.

Also they have withdrawn their agreement to CUPW’s proposal for a joint committee to examine financial services and banking and reneged on their commitment for more time values for work related to admail. As expected, they explained their decisions by distorting CUPW’s statements, misinterpreting our demands and exaggerating the costs of our proposals.

CUPW: Still at the Table

Negotiations meetings are scheduled for this evening and will continue over the weekend.

For our part, we have notified CPC that we are still prepared to make more adjustments in our previously-submitted global offer, provided that we see some genuine movement on the part of CPC on our demands that aim to address real problems the members live day to day in the work place.

What’s Ahead of us

Today and over the weekend, CUPW’s National Executive Board will meet and assess the situation; everyone will be informed of the decisions as they occur.

For Immediate Release

In response to today’s request from Labour Minister Lisa Raitt, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers agreed to suspend strike activity. The union’s only condition was that the terms of its collective agreement would be reinstated.

In 1991, when CUPW suspended its strike action to assist mediation efforts, Canada Post agreed to reinstate the union’s collective agreement.

At 6 PM this evening, Canada Post’s management rejected the union’s offer.

“This behaviour on the part of Canada Post Corporation is totally unacceptable,” said Denis Lemelin, CUPW National President and chief negotiator. “We are showing that we are willing to suspend our strike in good faith and with goodwill, as the Minister requested. Once again, Canada Post is rejecting any of our efforts to resolve the issues.”

As a result of Canada Post’s rejection, the union will continue its strike action in an effort to force Canada Post to negotiate. This weekend, postal workers in Red Deer, Alberta, are on the picket line.

Negotiations meetings are scheduled for this evening and will continue over the weekend.

For more information, please contact Aalya Ahmad,             613-327-1177      .

Tonight, at 11:00 p.m. EDT, postal workers in Quebec City and Kitchener, Ontario, will commence a 24-hour work stoppage. The purpose of this 24-hour strike action is to encourage Canada Post Corporation to present a realistic offer at the bargaining table.

These locals were chosen because both have experienced major cutbacks as a result of CPC management’s cost cutting crusade. Quebec City has witnessed the closure of its mail processing plant and Kitchener has seen the transfer of its parcel operations to Toronto.

Altogether, 1,550 CUPW members are employed at these locals.

Tonight and tomorrow morning the following locals will return to work:

• Labrador City, NFLD
• Bathurst, N.B. (Acadie-Bathurst, CUPW local)
• Summerside, PEI
• Ste-Thérèse, QC
• St-Jérôme, QC
• Hearst, ON
• Brantford, ON
• Thunder Bay ON
• St. Thomas, ON
• Flin Flon, MB
• Yellowknife, NWT
• Whitehorse, Yukon; and
• Vernon, B.C.

Today, CUPW replied to CPC’s latest global offer. Our proposals are designed to invigorate the negotiations and set the stage for a settlement.

Here is a summary of our latest moves.

Pensions: In light of CPC’s rejection of our latest offer, we have withdrawn our proposal. Instead, we are proposing a joint committee that will examine solutions to preserve our defined benefit pension plan. The committee will be empowered to use the services of experts and actuaries. Its report will be presented to the parties at least one year prior to the expiry of the collective agreement.

Short-Term Disability Plan (STD): CPC has proposed the establishment of a committee to examine its proposal for a short-term disability plan and ‘reduce the rate of casual and certified sick leave and special leave’. If the parties cannot reach agreement the issue would be decided by a government-appointed arbitrator who would operate under a mandate totally biased towards the establishment of an STD. We reject any proposal that would permit a third party to eliminate our sick leave and impose a STD. However, we are proposing a joint committee with a much-expanded mandate, including absenteeism harassment, the cause of injuries, and the financial implications of recovery of injury-on-duty payments. Under our proposal the committee would report to the parties at least one year prior to the expiry of the collective and there would be no arbitration process.

Work Measurement System: We are in agreement with the latest proposal of the employer concerning Appendices V and CC. These Appendices, which govern the work measurement systems for Group 2 workers, will be renewed status quo and the date in Appendix CC will be updated. These are very important provisions, which safeguard the work for Group 2 employees. They were major issues in the 1997 strike.

Admail: We have agreed to CPC’s proposal to use engineered standards to calculate the householder time on each route. The weight of the mail, including admail, will be taken into consideration for the calculation of relays and mail mobile stops. However, the Union has made it clear to CPC that this agreement is conditional on CPC addressing our demands for one bundle delivery and percentage of coverage that impact on the health and safety of letter carriers.

Wages: We have maintained our demand for a wage increase of 3.3% in the first year and 2.75% in each of the following three years. For Groups 1 and 2, the wage increases are based on the PO5 maximum rate. For groups 3 and 4, the wage increases are based on the MAM11 maximum rate. We have altered our proposal on wage increments in an effort to stimulate some movement from CPC on wages. All current temporary employees shall be red-circled and when they obtain a regular position their pay will be based on their continuous years of service. We emphasized to Canada Post that any agreement on wages would have to include a cost of living allowance (COLA) that fully protects our wages from inflation.

Internal Staffing: In light of the decision of CPC to withdraw their demand for more part-time employees we have adjusted our proposal. We agree to CPC’s proposal to keep the current percentage of the staffing ratio (Appendix P) at 78% and we are maintaining our proposal to include overtime in the calculation. We are also maintaining our demand to create a regular part-time position whenever a temporary works 1,000 hours or more over a twelve-month period. We are incorporating CPC’s previous offer that would convert part-time positions into full-time when a part-time worker works, on average, 900 hours during a thirty-week period.

At the meeting we informed the employer that we are prepared to make more adjustments in our previously-submitted global offer provided that we see some genuine movement on the part of CPC on our demands that aim to address real problems the members live day to day in the work place.