Public Compensation Coalition
THE B.C. ELECTION ACT AND YOUR RIGHT TO VOTE
THE B.C. ELECTION ACT AND YOUR RIGHT TO VOTE
On Tuesday, May 12, 2009, British Columbians will take to the polls to determine our future political leadership. To ensure that each registered voter would have the opportunity to exercise his or her right to vote, the B.C Election Act was designed to ensure that employees would not be prevented by the terms of their employment from casting their votes.
Section 74 (1) of the Election Act states that an employee who is entitled to vote in an election or who, on registration, will be entitled to vote in the election is entitled to have 4 consecutive hours free from employment during voting hours for general voting. Section 74 (2) of the Election Act states that if an individual’s hours of employment do not allow for the consecutive hours referred to in subsection (1), the individual’s employer must allow the individual time off from employment to provide those hours. Section 74 (4) an employer must not (a) without reasonable justification, fail to grant to an employee sufficient time off as required by subsection (2), or (b) make a deduction in pay for the time off or exact any penalty from the employee for the time off.
Voting hours are from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Therefore, dayshift employees who start work before 12:00 p.m. (noon) may not be required to work beyond 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday, May 12, 2009. The provisions of the Election Act apply to all employees who are scheduled to work the dayshift on Tuesday, May 12, 2009.
The black spots on Premier Gordon Campbell’s resume are far too numerous to list but Campbell is the only Canadian Premier immediately recognizable by his Maui Police Department mugshot, taken following his January 10, 2003 drunk driving arrest in Hawaii, for which he was later convicted. In a press conference, Campbell denied he had been smiling while being photographed.
Prior to his 2001 election, Campbell promised to honour collective agreements. In 2002, Campbell introduced Bill 29, anti-union legislation which in effect tore up the collective agreement of the B.C. Hospital Employees Union, resulting in the largest single lay off of female workers in British Columbia history. On June 8, 2007 (several years after the affected health workers lost their jobs) the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that parts of Bill 29 were illegal and contrary to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Upon his 2001 election, Campbell immediately froze B.C.’s minimum wage at $8.00. It is now the lowest in Canada. Campbell also introduced a sub-minimum wage that further reduced the minimum wage to $6.00 for the purposes of “training”. After establishing Canada’s lowest minimum wage, Campbell’s government later introduced Bill 37, which rewarded Campbell with a 54% pay increase.
In 2002, the Campbell government responded to employer lobby groups by gutting the WCB Act, virtually eliminating loss of earnings pensions and reducing wage loss entitlements and other benefits for injured employees.
Three months prior to the May 12, 2009 provincial election, Campbell passed Bill 42, legislation which was designed to limit third party spending and take away the right to free speech by effectively imposing a gag order on British Columbians. On March 27, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Frank Cole found the changes were unconstitutional because they limited the Freedom of Expression during an important period following the Throne Speech and the budget. The Campbell government’s subsequent attempt to have that decision stayed was unsuccessful.
Although Campbell pledged not to sell B.C. Rail, he did just that, in covert fashion. Several of the Campbell government’s ministerial aids are now in court facing charges of fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in connection with the sale of B.C. Rail.
There is a common theme surrounding the history of the Campbell government. Please take the time to ask why Campbell has closed at least 177 public schools, why 26,000 forestry jobs have been lost due to the export of raw logs, why BC is now ranked Number 1 in Canada for Child Poverty and Tuition Fee hikes.
On May 12, 2009, fire Gordon Campbell!
In Solidarity,
Ken Mooney
Report of the Advisory Panel
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The Strategic Review
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Reception for the following two International Sisters
The CUPW Pacific Region is pleased to announce that it will be hosting a reception for the following two international Sisters:
Sister Mathapelo Mphuthi, Second Deputy Secretary, Communication Workers Union of South Africa (CWU).
Sister Mathapelo was elected to the union executive two years ago, and comes from the postal sector. She is responsible for the development of women’s leadership in the union, and participates as a union representative in the regional and national women’s organizations in South Africa. Her responsibilities include recruitment of new sectors to the union and new forms of organizing, particularly with regard to call centers, courier services and other sectors that the union is organizing in response to the privatization of the postal and communication industries of South Africa.
Sister Jacaranda Fernández Mejía from Nicaragua (will speak in Spanish).
Sister Jacaranda is the former head of the Hospital Workers Union in Masaya and acting municipal Coordinator for the National Labour Front of Nicaragua. Jacaranda will speak on the defense of quality public services in Nicaragua and the need to develop alliances with the social movement to protect services. Sister Jacaranda is one of the union leaders responsible for the delivery of a joint PSAC SJF and CUPW training program with public sector workers in Nicaragua. She will address the strategic importance of developing solidarity among service providers and users as the only way forward in order to stop the privatization of public utilities and services.
Please note location has been changed:
Tuesday, April 28th, 2009 – 6:00 p.m.
Best Western Chateau Granville
1100 Granville Street
Vancouver, B.C.
Executive Suite Room #1409
Refreshments & Snacks will be available.
All members are cordially invited to attend.
For further information please telephone: 604.525.0194 x 224
Best Western Chateau Granville
1100 Granville Street
Vancouver, B.C.
Executive Suite Room #1409
Refreshments & Snacks will be available.
All members are cordially invited to attend.
For further information please telephone: 604.525.0194 x 224
Update – April 15, 2009
Canada Post Slashes Commercial Counter at Bentall
Canada Post cut the Commercial Counter at Bentall Centre in February. A recent retirement opened this Position for coverage, but rather than filling the vacancy, management chose to delete the Position.
The Union met to consult in an attempt to review the options for Bentall. The employees from this retail outlet came forward with ideas that would have kept the commercial counter covered by redistributing the duties of the existing staff. Management didn’t find any use for their input, and were unmoved by the list of complaints from customers that use the services of the commercial counter.
As Bentall is in the center of corporate Vancouver, many of the complaints come from major Canadian corporations. Some of their comments were:
- “It worries me the lack of regard you have for your commercial customers.”
- “Please don’t close this window it truly affects our businesses.”
- “…sad news. It’s convenience…this business counter, the staff are all very helpful and friendly. Hope the upper management will reconsider again.”
- “This counter has been very helpful when my company comes in with loads of Registered mail…”
- “We need the commercial counter for the speedy processing of our mails which are usually in bulk. Please keep the counter open.”
- “Please be respectful of your commercial customers who have different needs and provide you with so much business.”
- “The closure of commercial desk is of great concern to me, my staff and other users of this facility. We have schedules and timelines that must be met to facilitate the needs of our clients. The commercial desk is vital to ensure the speedy process of documentation and post. We need the desk!”
It may be that there is more to the agenda of Canada Post than cost savings when they make decisions that seriously impact the businesses they claim to be serving. A proposition like cutting out the commercial counter service is defective because it leads to customer dissatisfaction and to employee dissatisfaction. Despite the protestations of the corporate community, as well as those of the employees at Bentall who are concerned about service to their regular customers, Canada Post is moving in a different direction. Canada Post does not want to continue providing a necessary service at its busiest corporate outlet in the region, where they served 117,000 customers last year.
Strange Times ~ c.t.i.
During these times of economic uncertainty©® (or current economic downturn or recession or present economic instability or downward market trend…) we see workers and Unions being targeted, while the greedy fight for their piece of the ever shrinking pie. Here at Canada Post, CUPW members have a strong Collective Agreement protecting us, as long as we protect it. We have the ominous dark cloud of Modern Post hanging over our heads. We have Canada Post applying for a pension contribution holiday. Temporary workers have seen layoffs for the first time ever. We see vacant positions abolished at an alarming pace. It is an uncertain future we face.
In the middle of all this, we get CTI bonuses, almost double what we received last year. It seems odd: in a year where we have to chop 250 million dollars from the operating budget to avoid going into the red, we have exceeded our targets? We are now hearing city-wide overtime calls on a daily basis in letter carrier depots, and everything is peachy? External Temps are now sitting at home waiting for a phone call, starting routes an hour or more late and thus delaying mail to the customer on a regular basis and all is right?
There are approximately 22 months and counting until our current collective agreement expires. It seems like a long time, but we will be bargaining our next Collective Agreement before you know it. We have new leadership in Ottawa thanks to the delegates of the last convention and to those who voted for them. Our negotiators will be preparing for the fight of their lives when it comes to this round of bargaining.
If you have not yet decided what to do with your CTI cheque, you may want to consider putting the money from Moya into the bank, to be used against her come February 2011.
Supervisors Cookin’ The Books
Although it has been difficult getting leave granted lately, there have been some employees who were granted Comp Time (compensatory time), only to find out that after the fact, a supervisor had changed the leave to LWOP (leave without pay). The banked time was paid out and then the employee was recorded on LWOP. Comp Time is pensionable, but Leave Without Pay is not pensionable time.
It is a fraudulent act when any supervisor changes your leave without your consent. Check your paystub to be sure the leave you were on was the leave that was recorded. If it was changed without your knowledge, file a grievance.
Pension Consultations
The public consultations on our pensions have been making the rounds on a quick cross country tour. The Department of Finance Pension Consultations has been sent on tour to open up the funding debate on Canada Post pensions, as well as others. According to the chairperson – Ted Menzies, Parliamentary Secretary – there is still an opportunity to state your opinion. Submissions may be sent to:
Diane Lafleur
Financial Sector Policy Branch
Department of Finance
L’Esplanade Laurier
20th Floor, East Tower
140 O’Connor Street
Ottawa, Canada K1A 0G5
Alternately, you may send an E-Mail to [email protected]
Suggestions for your letter:
- Don’t use my Pension funds for shoring up poor planning by Canada Post
- Ensure proper funding continues ~ mandatory contributions must remain
- Canada Post must act responsibly to us ~ we are it’s stakeholders
- Put a system in place for the future ~ make our Pension Board accountable
- Protect our Defined Benefits Plan ~ provide insurance
- No more holidays from paying into our Pension!
Moya Greene decided in August 2007 that because our CPC Pension Plan had fully funded status, that regular employee contributions would not be required through the remainder of 2007. Ms. Greene felt this “…will in no way impact the overall financial strength of the Plan”. This initiative was never discussed beforehand with any of the bargaining agent representatives at the CPC Pension Advisory Council.
Within days of Ms. Greene’s announcement, significant market disruptions were happening in response to concerns over the sub-prime mortgages in the U.S. Concerns were raised again by bargaining agents about the potential implications for pension funding. Unmoved, Canada Post maintained the employer contribution holiday throughout the economic and financial turmoil during the first 10 months of 2008.
Contributions were resumed only after persistent objections of the bargaining agents represented on the CPC Pension Advisory Council. As of February 2009, there is a solvency deficiency of approximately $2.3 billion in the Canada Post Corporation Registered Pension Plan.
Right to Complain
History tells us that in times of unemployment the strength of labour is threatened. Rights that were fought for in better times come under attack as employers seek to reassert their right to manage.
In the present economic climate, there is a pro-business flexibility agenda that translates as reductions in job quality.
Stay involved. Let management know what you think. Let’s not let them wreck the Post Office.
Our Pensions are Being Debated
April 14, 2009 09:00 Bayshore Inn
Our Pensions are Being Debated
There are public consultations taking place on our pensions. The Department of Finance Pension Consultations is a hasty cross country tour to open up the funding debate on Canada Post pensions, as well as other major pensions, such as Air Canada, Nav Canada, CP, Canadian National Railway Co.
CEOs of these corporations have appealed to the federal government to ease the rules on pension plans. The companies are complaining the rules are to onerous, and they are wanting the payments to be adjusted.
- April 14, 2009 09:00 – 11:30
- The Westin Bayshore
- Cypress Room
If you can attend, show up at this public forum to raise your concerns about the future of our pensions. If you cannot attend, let your MP know you want the government to keep their paws off of our pensions!
Supervisor threatens to violate Canada Labour Code by threatening to recoup cancelation fees.
Supervisor threatens to violate Canada Labour Code by threatening to recoup cancelation fees.
These days, sick and injured employees face an unprecedented level of scrutiny from both Manulife Financial and Canada Post. There are more questions, more forms to fill out, and more ultimatums. It is also becoming more and more common for injured employees to be pressured into attending medical examinations by physicians selected and remunerated by Canada Post.