CUPW has received Arbitrator Elizabeth MacPherson’s decision regarding the collective agreements for our two bargaining units at Canada Post: Urban Operations and Rural and Suburban Mail Carriers.

Her awards are comprehensive and lengthy. CUPW’s negotiating committee is analyzing the details of the awards and we will provide further information shortly.

I can confirm that the awards are for four years and the wage increases are as follows:

For RSMCs the wage increases will be retroactive:

Year 1: February 1, 2018-  2.0%

Year 2: February 1, 2019-  2.0%

Year 3: February 1, 2020-  2.5%

Year 4: February 1, 2021-  2.9%

For Urban Operations members the wage increases will be retroactive:

Year 1: February 1, 2018-  2.0%

Year 2: February 1, 2019-  2.0%

Year 3: February 1, 2020-  2.5%

Year 4: February 1, 2021-  2.9%

Legislation is No Substitute for

Bargaining.

 

The decisions that affect our work and our future should not have been referred to an arbitrator in the first place. Workers have the right to free and fair collective bargaining, and when our right is denied, it robs us of our ability to negotiate solutions to the problems we face at the workplace.

Our main issues – fair wages, job security, improved health and safety, proper staffing, pay for all hours worked, work/life balance – should never have been decided by an arbitrator. They should have been resolved at the bargaining table in 2018. That is our right! The government passed an unconstitutional law to send us back to work, assuring us and the public that the arbitrated award would be ready in 90 days. That 90 days turned into 562 days. That is unacceptable.

Thank You

 Finally i would like to say thank you to every single member. Your support and commitment each and every day has really made a difference- and hat matters. I am proud to be a member of this Union and this community of workers.

More bulletins will be released as we continue to analyze the decision.

In solidarity,

Jan Simpson

National President