Category: Front Page

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MARCH General Membership Meeting

    Saturday March 25th at 10am

    Meeting will be in person and it will be held at

    Maritime Labour Centre 1880 Triumph Street 

                              (Old Union Hall)           

AGENDA FOR THE MARCH GMM:

  1. Land Acknowledgment
  2. Reading of Truth and Reconciliation: Calls to Action
  3. Reading of new members
  4. Reading of the previous meeting’s minutes
  5. Business arising out of the minutes
  6. Financials (3 months)
  7. New Business
  8. Nominations and elections:

             1)  National Convention Delegate Alternate (10)

             2) MSC Route Measurement (1)

             3) By Laws (1)

             4)  Conflict Resolution Committee Alternate (1)

             5) VDLC (5) Alternate (4)

             6) Health & Safety committee minimum (9)

             7) Balloting committee (8)

             8)  Education Committee (8)

             9)  Organization Committee (8)

            10)  Publications Committee (8)

9) Executive Committee Motions

10) Unfinished business

11) Correspondence

12) Executive and Committee Reports

14) Good and Welfare

15) Adjournment

In Solidarity,

Anju Parmar, President     

*Sign language Interpreters are  confirmed*

 

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CUPW PENSION COURSE

Sunday, April 16th, 2023

8am – 4pm

Application deadline is Friday, March 31st, 2023 at noon.

ASL Interpreters have been requested but are not yet confirmed.

The course includes information on our pension plan history, current health of the plan, buying back time, early and medical retirement, retirement calculated (what do I get and what’s deducted?), benefits after retirement, CPP/OAS basics, survivors and dependent benefits, marriage breakdown/divorce and your pension, penalty tables, what’s the best time to retire, and much, much more!

This course is meant to be in addition to the Retirement Seminar offered by CPC and explains our Pension Plan from CUPW’s perspective. This course is co-facilitated by Retirement Committee member Marion Pollack.

  • Education application forms must be legible and completed in full or applications will not be accepted.
  • Please indicate your estimated retirement date so we can prioritize limited class space.
  • Book offs are not available for this course so please ensure you have this day off before submitting your application.
  • There are no prerequisites or meeting requirements for this course.
  • Application forms can be found on your Union Boards, from your Shop Stewards, at the Hall, or on CUPW Vancouver’s website

http://www.cupwvancouver.org/courses

The course will be held in person at the Maritime Labour Center

#130-111 Victoria Dr. Vancouver, B.C

In Solidarity,

Jamie McCurrach

Education Director, Vancouver Local 846                                  lb/CUPE-3338

 

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A history of our union office and local dues assessment

The CUPW Vancouver Local has a rich and lengthy history, dating all the way back to the 1965 strike that formed the Union as we know it today. A lot of what has transpired in our past had a profound effect on the state of our Union today, and the direction it’s heading. In this bulletin, we offer a retrospective look at our Union office and local dues assessment in the context of past, present and future.

1980 – CUPW is a separate Union from LCUC (Letter Carrier’s Union of Canada). The Vancouver Local of CUPW passes a dues assessment of $4.50 per month ($16.57* in 2023 dollars)

1997 – It’s been 10 years since the merger of CUPW and LCUC. The Vancouver Local Executive put forward a motion to purchase a building in Vancouver for $1,000,000 ($1,711,902 in 2023 dollars). The General Membership Meeting where the motion was to be debated did not achieve quorum. Without a motion to purchase the building, another buyer snaps it up. The Vancouver Local rented an office downtown, and then when the lease was up, we moved to Burnaby. At the end of that lease, a flood in the office is accompanied by a noticeable odor of mold.

read more here

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YEAR 2023 INSTALLATION BALLOTING SCHEDULE

March 17 (Friday) Advance Poll (Union Hall)  7:00 AM – 5:00 PM
March 19 (Sunday) Pacific Processing Centre (PPC)        6:00 AM – 8:30 PM
March 20 (Monday) Station G 7:00 AM – 9:30 AM
Pacific Center      10:15 AM – 10:30 AM
Royal & Bentall Centers 10:45 AM – 11:30 AM
Wickets & Main Office Boxes 11:30 AM 12:30 PM
Glen Drive 1:00 PM – 1:30 PM
Station D (Retail) 1:45 PM – 2:00 PM
March 21 (Tuesday) Pacific International Facility

(PIF)

        9:15 PM – 10:15 PM
March 21 (Tuesday) LCD 1 & 2 8:30 AM – 3:00 PM
Station F                     NBDC 8:30 AM

8:30 AM

 –

–

 11:30 AM             12:45 PM
CDC 7:45 AM – 1:30 PM
NVDC (Harbour) 8:30 AM – 1:30 PM
West Van Retail 11:30 AM – 12:00 PM
March 22 (Tuesday) PPC & MSCs Starts 11:30 PM Tuesday, March 21
Ends  12:30 AM Thursday, March 23
March 22 (Wednesday) SVDC 8:30 AM – 2:30 PM
RDC 8:00 AM – 11:45 AM
Richmond Retail 12:00 PM – 12:30 PM
March 23 (Thursday) North Fraser Delivery Depot 7:30 AM – 12:00 PM
BBY 3 8:00 AM 11:00 AM
   
March 24 (Friday) Post Poll (Union Hall) 7:00 AM – 12:00 PM

NOTE: To ensure time to vote, give yourself extra time at the start (all locations) or at the end of your shift (PPC). Please have your CPC ID ready.

In Solidarity,

Jamie McCurrach

A/1st Vice President

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Re: Spring Education Seminars – April 20 – 23, 2023 – Harrison Hot Springs

The Spring education seminars for the Pacific Region will be held at Harrison Hot Springs Resort. The courses will run from Thursday, April 20 – April 23, 2023.  The following courses are being offered:

BASIC SHOP STEWARD

This course aims to provide new Stewards with basic training, knowledge and confidence.   Topics include the different roles of the Steward, how to investigate and file a grievance, communication skills, Shop Steward rights, the Steward as Organizer/Mobilizer, and key provisions of the Urban Operations and RSMC Collective Agreements.

 

Note: This course is for new Stewards.

 

 MENTAL HEALTH IN THE WORKPLACE

This course is about recognizing mental health issues in the workplace, assisting co-workers suffering from mental illness, and strategies for psychological health and safety.  Participants explore the stigma towards people living with mental illness. They review the signs and symptoms of mental health problems, and the indicators of psychological health and safety in the workplace. They look at different support and accommodation measures, and explore strategies to facilitate psychological health and safety at work. Note: This course is particularly suited to members who want to assist, support and advocate for co-workers suffering from mental illness. It may be of interest to Social Stewards.
UPDATING ROUTES AND BASIC LCRMS

This course explains the fundamentals of the Letter Carrier Route Measurement System (LCRMS), with a focus on the factors used to update routes.  Participants examine the different time values that determine a route and review how they are calculated. They look at restructures, volume counts, and the parts of the collective agreement that relate to LCRMS.  Most important, they learn how to verify time values to ensure they reflect the letter carrier’s work, and what to do if there are discrepancies.

Note: This course is for members, stewards and local executive members who want to

learn about letter carrier routes and the basics of the Letter Carrier Route Measurement

System (LCRMS).

 

 SOCIAL STEWARD

This course trains members to be Social Stewards.

Social Stewards are resource people who assist co-workers experiencing personal problems.  They listen to members, help them identify their concerns and find solutions, and refer them to appropriate resources.  As set out in D-32 of the CUPW constitution, Social Stewards are part of a network the union is building across the country.  This course familiarizes participants with a Social Steward’s role and responsibilities.  They explore ways to approach workplace problems, learn how to support members and how to gather and share information on the resources available to members.

Note: Members who have already taken the Solidarity Skills Level 1 and/or 2 are encouraged to apply for this course, which has a special application form (attached).

To be considered all applications must be signed and submitted by the Local President or their designate.

The deadline for registration is 12   p.m. on Thursday, March 7, 2023.  Please ensure your applications are in by that date, any application received after the deadline will not be considered.

In Solidarity,

Anju Parmar, President                   lb/CUPE-3338

 

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2023 Annual Elections

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

President

Robyn Mann

Anju Parmar

 2nd 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

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Grievance Update

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