Lump Sum Payments | Group 1 Shift Bids | Groups 3 and 4 Shift Bids | PO4’s Working on MMHE Equipment
We have received many inquiries from members at the Pacific Processing Centre (PPC) with respect to the long overdue Article 29 lump sum payments owed to them by Canada Post. The requirement for these payments was triggered by the relocation of positions to the new plant. The Union has been going over the entitlement list that was provided to it by Canada Post and significant errors and omissions have been found. While many of them have been corrected there are still a large number that remain to be confirmed. This has unfortunately led to a further delay in members receiving the payments that are owed to them. We will be meeting with management further this week in an effort to resolve the outstanding issues. We will be demanding that these past-due payments be made without further delay. While a grievance was filed on this issue back in May, we remain committed to doing everything we can to resolve this dispute without proceeding to an unnecessary and costly arbitration that would only add to the delays already experienced.
As per our normal practice under the Collective Agreement we requested an annual shift bid for all sections at the PPC which would implement in January 2015.
Subsequently, at a consultation to discuss Christmas operations that was held on October 31st management unveiled its intention to make significant changes to the Group 1 PO4 schedules in March 2015 which would trigger another shift bid. We have booked off our Chief Stewards to communicate with you on the work floor to explain what we know thus far and to gather feedback. We do have the option of deferring the January bid to March so as to not have two bids so close together. Regardless of how we proceed the annual leave bid for the 2015/16 leave year will proceed as it normally would with completion by mid-February 2015. If the January bid is deferred, management has stated that they would continue to honour the annual leave that has been bid upon (ordinarily there would be a re-bid). If this is the case, the Union will be requiring written confirmation from management of both the bid being conducted in March and the annual leave carryover.
Canada Post has stated that it will be making changes to PO5 schedules in the very near future that will trigger a shift bid for this classification. In addition, the final move out of the VMPP in May 2015 will also trigger a shift bid for PO5’s. In this light, we have also asked our Chief Stewards to canvas PO5’s with respect to not conducting a shift bid this January.
Consultation to discuss the PO4 and PO5 shift bids is tentatively scheduled for next week.
In spite of our requests, information pertaining to the PPC Tech Services shift bid has not been forwarded to the Union. An email was received from management on November 7th indicating that this would be forthcoming within a week, however nothing has been received to date. We will be following up to seek an explanation for the delay.
Glen Drive Group 3 shift bid information was received on November 17th and consultation will be scheduled shortly.
PO4’s Working on MMHE Equipment
It has come to our attention recently that Canada Post management has been soliciting PO4’s to be trained on stacker equipment. Stackers are Mail Material Handling Equipment (MMHE) that properly belong within the job description of the PO5 classification. Throughout the Article 29 negotiations the Union took the position, and had agreement from Canada Post, that stacker work would remain within the realm of the PO5’s in the RT&D section at the PPC. This was only in part due to the fact that a large number of PO5’s were being surplussed as a result of the move to the PPC. Management is now claiming that their intent was only to honour this agreement as long as there were still surplussed PO5’s. It has been, and remains, the Union’s position that all MMHE work at the PPC is properly that of PO5’s. Notwithstanding management’s reinterpretation of our agreement, there are still as of this writing PO5’s that are working in PO4 jobs due to the reduction in positions occasioned by the move into the new facility. It is imperative that we stand together and resist every effort by the employer to erode our job classifications that have been established over decades of collective struggle.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank our Chief Stewards; Anju Urie-Parmar, Jeannette McConnell and Angelito Decena for their hard work gathering the consensus of opinion on the upcoming Group 1 shift bids.
In Solidarity,
Kim Evans
President
CUPW Vancouver Local
la/CUPE-3338