October 17, 2019                                                                                          Bulletin # 088

We continued with our busy arbitration schedule by completing 8 days of hearings in the last three weeks. We have now completed 32 days of hearings. We presented our entire case in 20 days, which included hearing evidence and the cross-examination of 28 witnesses. So far Canada Post has used 12 days of hearings and we have heard evidence from 3 witnesses. They still have their fourth witness on the stand and have at least 3 more witnesses to go after that.

October 8 & 9 

We began the week with our cross examination of Canada Post’s witness Jean-Laurent Rousset, General Manager of Customer Experience.  We challenged Mr. Rousset’s evidence regarding the need for “flexibility” in Group 1 staffing, by indicating just how much flexibility Canada Post currently has for Group 1 staffing.

We also challenged Mr. Rousset’s representation that Canada Post was struggling in the parcel business and that maybe 2019 wouldn’t be a good year for parcel growth. We presented documents showing that Canada Post is forecasting to have a very good “Peak Season” this year. No one can say what the final results for 2019 will be, but it is clear that Canada Post is optimistic with its forecasts. This goes against much of the theme presented by Canada Post’s first two witnesses.

Canada Post then began with the testimony of Mr. Sanjay Paliwal, General Manager of Delivery Transformation. His testimony continued the same gloom and doom theme as Canada Post’s first three witnesses. He then talked about some of the changes that Canada Post has made to address these challenges, such as Postal Transformation, the 5 Point Action Plan and Separate Sort and Delivery (SSD). Yes, much of this was addressed by previous Canada Post witnesses. 

October 10 

Mr. Paliwal continued his lengthy testimony, going into great detail about the Letter Carrier Route Measurement System (LCRMS) and letter carrier restructures. He then went on to discuss letter carrier workload and overtime and the clauses in the collective agreement used to manage workload and overtime. 

Upcoming Dates

The next hearing dates are October 23 and 30. Canada Post has scheduled visits to three different smaller post offices on these dates. The cross examination of Mr. Paliwal will begin when Canada Post completes his evidence in chief, whenever that is.

What is CPC Up To? 

It is not clear if CPC’s strategy to have their witnesses read passages after passages of the collective agreement, or spend hours on issues that are not in front of the arbitrator, is designed to ensure that the arbitration is extended past the federal election. Perhaps they are hoping for a Conservative majority?

Be assured we are doing everything we can to move the arbitration forward without compromising our case.

Its Time For Canada Post to Recognize That Workers are an Asset Not a Liability!

In Solidarity,

Nancy Beauchamp

Chief Negotiator

RSMC Unit

Sylvain Lapointe

On Behalf of the Negotiating Committee

Urban Unit

 

 

October 4, 2019                                                                                             Bulletin #087

ARBITRATION UPDATE

Arbitration resumed on September 26 with a very intense schedule. There are 8 days of hearings scheduled over a three week period. Canada Post continued presenting its evidence.

September 26 & 27

 We cross examined Canada Post’s witness Jean Caron, Interim Finance Lead.  We challenged much of Mr. Caron’s testimony regarding the viability of the Canada Post network and his negative representation of Canada Post’s recent financial performance. He admitted that these are just numbers and can be presented in many ways. Throughout this cross examination we showed that the results are actually much more positive than what was presented in evidence.

There was also a detailed review of how Canada Post accounts for one time expenses, such as the three pay equity cases it has lost in the past few years.

Canada Post also attempted to blame labour disruptions or threat of labour disruptions for negatively impacting its profits in 2011, 2016 and 2018. If Canada Post would bring reasonable offers to the negotiating table then there would be no need for labour disruptions.

Mr. Caron’s cross examination continued on September 27 and he was challenged on how Canada Post calculates “Productive Hourly Rates” which they use for comparative purposes. Once again Canada Post attempted to make the hourly rate for Group 1 and 2 employees appear to be much higher than it actually is.

This cross examination concluded with challenges to how Canada Post was costing the parties demands on wage increases and how Canada Post compared our demands to wage increases in other bargaining units (APOC, CPAA and PSAC). Day 26 of the arbitration concluded with a brief redirect by Canada Post counsel.

October 1, 2 & 3

 These 3 days of hearings were spent listening to a very lengthy testimony from Canada Post’s third witness, Jean-Laurent Rousset, General Manager of Customer Experience. Mr. Rousset testified for approximately 11 hours with him reading several passages of the collective agreement !

In addition there was a tour of the Ottawa Mail Processing Plant, with the Arbitrator, which took approximately 4 hours.  The intent of this tour was to show the Arbitrator how mail and parcels flow through the Canada Post network.

Mr. Rousset testified in great detail about the parties’ positions, in negotiations, on Group 1 staffing. The theme of Mr. Rousset’s testimony was that Canada Post needs flexibility with Group 1 staffing to be able to continue to remain competitive in the parcel market.  This is in spite of Canada Post continuing to be the dominant parcel delivery company in Canada.

Canada Post’s demand for Group 1 is to reduce the ratio of full-time to hours paid from 78% to 75%.

Upcoming Dates

The next hearing dates are October 8, 9 & 10. We will cross examine Mr. Rousset and challenge his testimony. The next Canada Post witness is Mr. Sanjay Paliwal, General Manager Delivery Transformation. Mr. Paliwal is scheduled to testify on; letter carrier health and safety, overburdening, restructures, one-bundle delivery, and job security, RSMC restructures and hourly rate and job retention. Canada Post is estimating that Mr. Paliwal’s testimony in chief will take 9 hours. Time will tell exactly how long he will take.

Solidarity and Work Floor Actions Send a Strong Message to CPC !

In Solidarity,

Nancy Beauchamp

Chief Negotiator

RSMC Unit

Sylvain Lapointe

On Behalf of the Negotiating Committee

Urban Unit