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

AMANAT KAUR BRAR

   

Amanat wrote about how the spirit of giving can make changes around the world. Her letter absolutely touched our hearts, we were so happy to hear from her.

Amandeep Kaur from PIF Shift 1 brought her daughter 9 years old Amanat into the office to accept her winners certificate and her gift card.

Thank you Amanat for reminding all of us that the spirit of giving is still alive and well.

In Solidarity,

Katie Poch                                                            Anju Parmar

Organizing Director                                          President

                                                         

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There have been many questions about when members can use paid special leave; hopefully the following will help explain some of this.

Clause 21.03 Leave for Other Reasons {page 174 of the Urban Collective Agreement} says:

“Where conditions warrant it, special leave with pay may be granted when circumstances not directly attributable to the employee, including but not limited to illness in the immediate family, as decided in clause 21.02, prevent his or her reporting for duty.
Such leave will not be unreasonably withheld. An employee can only be granted leave with pay under this clause once he or she has exhausted all of his or her Personal Days.”

If you have used all of your personal days and are being prevented from reporting to duty due to circumstances not directly attributable to you, you can apply for paid special leave in accordance with the clauses outlined above. When applying for paid special leave, Canada Post will provide you with an application form/questionnaire that you must complete and submit along with any documents which support your request. While the questions on these forms can seem intrusive, sufficient information/evidence must be provided to substantiate your request.

There have been many arbitration decisions concerning the use of paid special leave over the years, and generally, they say that:

1. An employee must make a reasonable effort to report to work including making other arrangements to be able to report to work.
2. The employer must make proper inquiries and consider the request.

In other words, if it is established that there was a circumstance not directly attributable to the member that prevented them from reporting to work, an arbitrator would apply a two-pronged test that would look at the evidence to determine whether the member made a reasonable attempt to report to work, and whether Canada Post properly investigated and considered the request.

If you have applied for paid special leave but were denied, you should contact a shop steward in your work location or your Local Union office to enquire about submitting a grievance. If you are to submit a grievance, you must supply the following to support it:

1. A copy of the application form/questionnaire that you completed and submitted to Canada Post
2. Copies of any documents provided in support of your request (such as: medical certificates if due to illness in the immediate family, weather reports if related to weather conditions, documents showing attempts to make other arrangements to be able to report to work, etc.)
3. A statement outlining the reason(s) for the leave request, the attempts made, and any conversations with Canada Post representatives regarding the leave request

While Canada Post supervisors may try to say that because of personal days we no longer have special leave, this is not true. Once you have exhausted your personal days, you are entitled to apply for paid special leave.

In Solidarity,

Vancouver local .