Category: Bulletins

Nominations have now closed for the following positions on the Local                Executive Committee:

President

Robyn Mann

Anju Parmar

 2^nd Vice President

Raylene Marshall

Joseph Rahim

Nominated and Acclaimed
Full Time Officer

Grievance Officer

Alan Dobbs

Table officers

Jamie McCurrach         Education Director

Katie Poch                 Organizing Director

Zoe McGowan         Recording Secretary

John Tweed           Health & Safety Director

 

Chief Shop Stewards

Chief Shop Steward Internal PPC/PIFF/Wickets Shift 1

Zenaida Garcia

Chief Shop Steward External MSC

Joseph H McCance

Chief Shop Steward External LC (1 position)

Kayla Ziefflie

Chief Shop Steward GLT

Raj Deo

The schedule for the 2023 annual election will be presented in a future bulletin. Congratulations to those acclaimed to a position and good luck to those nominated.

In Solidarity, 

Anju Parmar, President

Over $70,000 win for our PPC Members

In December of 2018 the Vancouver Local filed a grievance against the Corporation for an obvious violation of article 39. Having attempted to advise the Corporation during the consultation process that their plan to bring in Temporary employees immediately following regular shift times for the month of December would be a violation of article:

39.05(f) Notwithstanding paragraph 39.05(c), regular full-time employees in the required classification and who are present at work will be offered overtime hours if temporary employees are at work in the full-time employees’ section in the two (2) hour period that immediately follows the end of their shift.

The Corporation decided to ignore our warnings and so a grievance was filed.

During that month most sections at the PPC were affected by this clear violation, as Temporary employees were assigned positions throughout the plant day in and day out. As a result of this, the Corporation continued to incur liability for bypassing the regular employees for their deserved overtime opportunities. The Corporation denied the grievance at the first level hearing stage and so we had to wait until the grievance was referred to an arbitrator before we could see some justice.

Because of the excellent work done very early on by sisters Anju Parmar and Erin Collins we were able to establish a very good case. This eventually led to Labour Relations agreeing with us that the Corporation did in fact violate the Collective Agreement and was liable for all of the missed opportunities. A lot of forensic work followed, trying to discover who was working where and how many people had been bypassed. This work took months of careful examination and negotiation with the Corporation. Sister Neerjha Bhatara helped us get this across the line by using her extensive knowledge with equal opportunity list management and her deep understanding of the internal workings at the PPC. And as a result, the Corporation has agreed to pay members for the missed overtime opportunities. This is a total amount that will be upwards of $70,000 payable to our members that had their rights abused by the Corporation.  Once a MOA has been signed, members from VEO Inbound and Outbound, Parcels and Packets will be notified by the Union and the employer.

In Solidarity,

Alan Dobbs, Grievance Officer

We would like to thank all of our members who attended the General Membership Meeting at the Hilton Vancouver Metrotown on Saturday, January 28, 2023. Due to unprecedented attendance for an in-person meeting exceeding maximum room capacity, the meeting needed to be adjourned as we were in violation of Fire Code article 2.7.1.3, which is also a health and safety issue.

In the interests of health and safety and in accordance with procedure, a motion was made to adjourn and seconded.

Saturday’s GMM had to be adjourned of necessity because the Fire Code overrules the bylaws.

We apologize for the inconvenience and thank everyone who made the effort to attend. Please come to the meeting on February 18th at 1300hrs to discuss and debate  notices of motion.

In Solidarity,

Vancouver Local Executive Committee.

Earlier this month we had our first CUPW- FTQ Social Stewards Network 3-day Conference held in Montreal. Social Stewards from across country took part in this  conference and shared their experience and concerns with others.

 What is a social steward?

A social steward is an active union member involved in providing support to other members who are experiencing difficulties. Helping someone involves listening to and referring members who seek help to union, community and professional resources.

The role of a Social Steward is to listen, refer, support and follow up.

Social stewards can play a crucial role in responding to the needs of the environment. It is a helping relationship between equals provided be members to fellow members. All information is kept confidential and proper help and guidance will be provided.

Social Stewards Acts as a safety net for workers.

Offers support throughout the recovery process.

read more here