The Retail Post Office is unique as it covers the whole Lower Mainland. The members working in this Post Office are covered by three (3) different CUPW Locals. This means that all of their consultations involve the Regional Office.
On October 30, 2015, the Union met with the employer to discuss the Retail Shift Bid and the Annual Leave Bid for 2016. The Officers present at this consultation (either in person or by phone) were, Tom Jackson (Regional Office), Steve Carter & Jennifer Savage (Vancouver Local), Laurie Knopp & Kerisma Vere (Royal City Local), Anthony Holzer (Fraser Valley West Local).
There were a few shift time changes in the proposal but the number of positions remained the same. There are also some upcoming retirements and Canada Post gave the commitment that they would be filling those vacancies as they come up.
Annual Leave
In previous years, since Canada Post combined the three (3) Retail Post Offices into one giant Post Office, they had always kept the Annual Leave separate. For 2016, this was not to be.
The Union objected to the combination of the three (3) Annual Leave lists into one (1). Canada Post put forward the position that it was the members that worked in the Retail Post Offices that wanted the lists combined. Canada Post stated that our members were coming to them on a regular basis and complaining about being understaffed. This was going to be Canada Post’s way of resolving the staffing issue shortages.
We advised the corporation that we would be speaking with our members, as we found it hard to believe that our members would tell the corporation how short-staffed they were and had never mentioned it to the Union. We also had difficulty believing that our members would ask for combined annual leave bidding, which would give them less choice of when to take annual.
We did have an opportunity to speak with many of the members and they were opposed to the combining of the Annual Leave lists.
The fact that Canada Post has consulted with the Union does not mean that we agreed to all of their plans. We put our position forward to the employer again on November 13, 2015, prior to the start of the bidding. The corporation noted our position and chose to proceed with the combined list.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact your Shop Steward or the Union Hall.
In Solidarity,
Jennifer Savage
President
CUPW Vancouver
la/CUPE-3338