- CPC is being truthful in its projections about falling mail volumes, pension dire straights and the future financial viability of the Post Office. CPC has been spinning the numbers for many years now. They misstated the losses caused by the “work disruption”, properly known as the lockout. They have been mostly silent on the amount of money being spent on the modern post. They have made projections, which National CUPW has challenged, of the savings they hope to achieve with Postal Transformation.
- We will get a contract that is worse than the one before us now at Final Offer Selection. No one has a crystal ball. While the odds are clearly not favourable we can not state as fact that Final Offer Selection will result in a contract that is worse than the one before us. What is a certainty is that a “yes” vote will result in an acceptance of a grossly inferior contract that not only gives back a significant number of gains we have achieved over many years but actually goes further by giving more into the future. What is the likelihood of getting back what we have freely given with our ballot?
- Harper will lose the next election. The legislation imposed an expiry date of January 31, 2015. However, this Tentative Agreement includes an extra year extending the term to January 31, 2016 with no wage increase, no return of what we gave up, no improvements. There may be some hope that the Harper government will lose the election in 2015 and perhaps a government less inclined to interfere in the collective bargaining process will be elected. Perhaps. The Corporation could be swimming in cash by 2015 and we will have no wage increase, no improvements. We are being asked to mobilize and unite to fight the Harper government when we haven’t even fully organized ourselves to challenge the boss on the work-floor. What if Harper wins another majority? Will we give up what is left? The fight is now, it is staring us in the face.
It must be understood that a decision to cast a “no” vote is done with the understanding that there is a possibility of having a worse deal dictated by an arbitrator at Final Offer Selection. A no vote comes with a price – a willingness to continue fighting back. Whichever way the membership decides this fight is far from over. We must be committed to fighting the draconian legislation and ultimately its illegitimate offspring the Final Offer Selection process. We must not only fight to keep what is rightfully ours in the first place but also fight to improve upon our rights and entitlements.
Many of our members have asked what the plan is if we vote “no”. There are many possible scenarios and ideas that have been discussed but the most significant element of any plan will be the push back from the work-floor. The leadership of the Union must obey the will of the membership to facilitate the fight but the membership, you, must be prepared to rise to this challenge. The power and authority of this Union does not reside in the leadership, it comes from all of us collectively.
Tentative Agreement NOtes:
- Are we to accept the oft manipulated financial prognostications of CPC as fact? National CUPW has been critical of CPC’s claims in the past.
- What of the actual increase in revenues between last year and this year?
- What of the 16 yrs of profitability, with hundreds of millions of dollars returned to the public purse over those years?
- CPC is crying poor. Much has been said by the Corporation about falling mail volumes and their reported poor financial performance last year. The first financial loss in 16 yrs includes an estimated $150 to $200 million dollars of the Supreme Court of Canada’s pay equity judgment against CPC management’s bad decision to pay female PSAC worker’s less than men over 28 years ago. Of particular note is that not a penny has actually been paid out since the judgement was rendered a year ago. This would suggest that the reported loss does not truly reflect reality.
- In May 2011 our Union acted upon the record breaking strike vote mandate given to it by the membership and embarked upon a series of rotating strikes designed to minimize impact to the public and avoid harm to the public Post Office. Canada Post management reacted by choosing to lockout the entire country and shut down the Post Office. The cost and consequence of this lockout is also referred to in CPC’s financial report as contributing to the loss last year.
- How can management justify 7,402 bonus payouts to themselves, including 23 senior managers? This information was extracted by the media using an Access to Information Request to pry it out of CPC, it was not freely given.
- CPC is investing billions of dollars in technology that will eradicate our jobs and weaken us further. What of their refusal to give proper consideration to our proposals for an expansion of service? It is of note to those who have been around a while that it was CUPW that proposed and fought to bring contracted-out parcel delivery back to CPC. It is at best ironic, at worst insulting, that CPC now decries the falling volumes of Transaction Mail and touts parcel delivery as a focal point for their business plan. We know the work, they should listen.
- What of CPC management’s own direct actions undertaken to erode Transaction Mail? Mass removal of SLB’s, closures of retail outlets, reduction of hours at retail counters, the mass marketing of ePost, the lockout and the impact on large volume mailers and businesses that were encouraged to leave by the actions of management.
- Is this so-called crisis more a manufactured consequence of management’s actions than a genuine and natural shift in the public’s use of the Post Office?
- Why should the workers be asked to willingly cast a ballot in favour of them bearing the brunt of the cost for management’s mistakes?
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If you would like more information about the Tentative Agreement: attend the November General Membership Meeting on Sunday, November 25, 2012 at 1:00 pm in the Banquet Room next door to the Union Hall at 4530 Dawson Street, Burnaby. Members of the Vancouver Local Executive Committee will be in attendance. |