Posted on by CUPW Vancouver

Vancouver Local Update: May 24, 2016

“A Term’s Perspective…”, “Call the HALL!”, “Here are Some Things You Can Do to Prepare Yourself for a Strike.” and more…

A Term’s Perspective…

– Submitted by a Term Letter Carrier

With several depots in the Vancouver Local moving to Postal Transformation (‘PT’) and Canada Post filing for conciliation, we are in pressing times. Times of change and times where we need unity on our work floors. As a term letter carrier, often I find myself caught up in the demands of a changing work environment.As bulletins come up on the Union boards and days pass by, it’s easy to forget we are a ticking clock.

Many times in my first days as a letter carrier (which in Canada Post’s perspective, wasn’t too long ago), a fellow Union member came to my side to support me, offer advice and tips, and assist me with standing up for myself following the Collective Agreement with the ‘bosses’. Now I have some experience on the floor, I am more confident and want to pay it forward. Looking around today, my first experiences on the floor at Depot 74 are much different than what it’s like today. Back then, I was just happy to have a job.I had no idea about this union thing. It was foreign to me. I just did what was asked of me. I didn’t want to ruffle feathers and hardly knew my collective rights. My thinking was, if I stood up for myself then I’d be a walking target for supervisors. Just enough to get by and not be abused.

Bullshit!

While our bargaining committee sits at the table and word spreads about the loss of job security, paid lunch break, and pay freezes for temporary workers, I shudder. Shouldn’t it be the other way around? Am I willing to just sit back while my working rights that were fought for years before, are stripped away? What can I do to help? Doesn’t someone with years of service have more to offer than I do? Union members, stewards, and the executive committee work long and hard to protect our rights on a daily basis.

Well here’s what we can do. If you’re a new term, fill out a union card and hand in your five ($5) dollars to the Union Hall or to a shop steward. Now is the time, this allows you to vote, attend union meetings, and join in for any job action necessary in the coming months. Attend union meetings and vote. Share with others. Support each other and share collectively. A good friend always says, together we stand or united we fall.

I am for a fair living wage for temporary workers.

What Now?

As we come up to the end of May we will be preparing to go into a strike vote. The biggest question asked is always, “Why should I vote yes?”

Voting YES does not mean you want to go on strike. It means all the things that you have fought for in the past are important to you, that your future is important to you, and that management’s view of the future is not the future you want to have. A YES vote states that you are willing to support the fight for this future. A NO vote simply states that you agree to what the employer wants and that their vision of the future is sufficient for you and your family!

An abstention states that you don’t even care enough to be involved in your future and that you are fine with whatever comes your way. Lower wages? Sure! No seniority? Great! Corporate bullying? I can take it! A low turnout is saying these things to the employer, and their demands are banking on a complacent workforce.

WE MUST STAND UP! WE MUST STAND TOGETHER or WE WILL LOSE!alt

Call the HALL!

Picket Captains and other volunteers – we are always in need of more volunteers to help! Picket Captains are responsible for signing everybody in and out on the picket line. They also have the responsibility of reporting everything that happens during the shift, if the media comes, or if someone gets injured. These things all need to be reported to the Union Hall promptly. Picket Captains will set up in the morning and take down at night. They have to able to communicate both with the Hall and the public. This is an important job and we need more people to step up.

Zone coordinators are responsible for collecting all documents from all picket captains and make sure that people are being responsible on the line and any other duties that the Hall needs to be done.

If you want to volunteer, please call the Hall and leave your contact information for the organization committee, (604) 685-6581.

Here are Some Things You Can Do to Prepare Yourself for a Strike.

Save Money

June is a three (3) pay cheque month so consider saving a little each pay cheque.

Prescriptions and Extended Health

Get your prescriptions filled for your maximum amount. The corporation can reduce or end coverage for yourself and your family during a strike.

Insurance

Find ways to lower your monthly expenses. If your credit card’s insurance policy covers wage-loss due to strike or lockout, you should consider it.

Consider opening a line of credit

If you are able to secure a line of credit to be used in emergencies only, you will have access to cash if you need it. Open the account, but don’t use it until you need to.

Bank your overtime

If you bank your overtime until our contract expires, you will have a good chunk of money saved without even noticing it.Make sure to cash out that banked overtime before the strike.

Annual Leave

Annual leave can be suspended and possibly cancelled, which means no pay cheque coming in. With the Collective Agreement expired, the Canadian Labour Code is the only protection we have.

Nobody wants a strike

This round of negotiations promises to be the biggest challenge Postal Workers have faced in a generation. We can win this fight if we prepare now and stand together.

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Our Post Office is Under Review – Have Your Say!

The federal government has appointed an independent task force to identify options or the future of our postal service. It says that everything, but postal privatization, is on the table. The task force wants to know what you think.The question they ask changes every week, so please return every Thursday and let your thoughts be heard. You can have your say by contacting the task force:

Strike Votes!!

Check out the times and locations HERE!

Strike/Lockout Pay

If you are a member of the Union, you are eligible for $200 dollar strike pay by participating in the picket line 5 days in a week, for 4 hour shifts each day. Not a member of the Union? Make sure you apply, sign & submit your Union membership to the Hall. There is a $5 initiation fee.

JUNE GENERAL
MEMBERSHIP MEETING

Thursday, June 23, 2016
7:00 p.m.
WISE Hall
1882 Adanac St., East Vancouver.

ck/CUPE-3338