Unnecessary Legislation From An Unjust Government

Today, the Conservative government of Stephen Harper introduced legislation to deny 48,000 postal workers the basic democratic right to free collective bargaining. The law, which was introduced at the request of Canada Post management, contains arbitrary financial penalties to be applied against postal workers. It also provides for a process of final offer arbitration where the mandate of the arbitrator ensures that the process is bias towards the employer. Features of the legislation include:

Extension of the collective agreement: the collective agreement is restored until a new agreement has been determined by the arbitrator. The new agreement will expire on January 31, 2015.

Lower Wages Imposed by the law: The bill legislates wage increases that fall significantly below Canada Post’s last offer of 1.9% in 2011, 2012 and 2013, and 2.0 % in 2014. The law includes increases of 1.75 % in 2011, 1.5% in 2012, 2% in 2013 and 2% in 2014. This would take $875.50 out of the pockets of an average full-time postal worker during the four years of the agreement. It represents a theft of $35 million from postal workers and their families.

Final Offer Selection: The new collective agreement will be decided by a government-appointed arbitrator. The parties will each submit a draft collective agreement and the arbitrator must choose one in its entirety.

Guiding Principles for the arbitrator: The arbitrator must consider the following:

• conditions of employment consistent with those in comparable postal industries
• the necessary flexibility to ensure the short term long-term economic viability and competitiveness of CPC
• maintain the health and safety of workers
• ensure the sustainability of pension plan
• take into account the solvency ratio of the pension
• operate efficiently, improve productivity and meet acceptable levels of service without undue rate increases.

Penalties: The law contains the usual penalties for non compliance: $50,000 for union officers, $1,000 for members and $100,000 for the union for each day.

CUPW Fighting Back: Across the country postal workers have been joined by our allies in protests against this unjust legislation. In the House of Commons the NDP has been doing everything possible to fight the law. The Secretary-Treasurer of the Canadian Labour Congress, Hassan Yussuf, has been assisting us in our attempts to force Canada Post to get back to the negotiations table. We continue to be determined to negotiate a collective agreement that meets the needs of postal workers.

Show your strength, show your resolve, and participate in the activities organized by your local. Let’s tell Canada Post and the Harper government that postal workers will not give up the fight.