CUPW has ratified a new collective agreement for members of the TForce Vancouver Island and BC Interior bargaining unit in the Pacific Region. The agreement is for four years and will expire on February 28, 2026.
Our school system relies on these workers – meaning all working families rely on them. They are primarily women, and they have seen shrinking real wages for too long. More than half of them need to work a second job just to make ends meet. They care for and support our children’s education, and these conditions are unacceptable.
During the 2018 round of bargaining, CUPW and the employer signed a Memorandum of Agreement to establish a committee to review the collective agreement articles concerning Groups 3 and 4. Unfortunately, the project was placed on hold due to the pandemic.
Fuel cost along with all other incurred expenses for RSMCs have been rising consistently all year. The cost of fuel alone has risen by 40 percent since December 2021.
RSMCs receive money from Canada Post to pay for the use of their vehicles at a rate set by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). That amount is updated yearly and was last updated at the start of 2022 based on prices from November 2021. With this sudden increase in inflation, including the cost of gas, the math no longer makes sense.
For those I haven’t yet had the pleasure of meeting, my name is Roland Schmidt and I was elected as your new 3rd National Vice-President (Organizing) this past May. Before my election, I was serving my 2nd term as the Local President of CUPW 730 (Edmonton and affiliates) in Alberta. Since relocating to Ottawa in June, I’ve dedicated my efforts to stabilizing our organizing department and constructing a comprehensive strategic plan that, with broad member support, will revitalize our union and position us to effectively fight to make our jobs better.
On September 13, 2021, CUPW and the employer signed a Memorandum of Agreement to establish a committee responsible for the transition to an hourly rate for RSMCs.
We are currently seeking an additional Union Representative to fill an upcoming vacancy.
We are pleased to report that this week the Bee-Clean maintenance workers in Dieppe and Saint John NB and St. John’s NL have ratified two new collective agreements with their employer. Union negotiators, including a bargaining unit member, began meeting with Bee-Clean management in February and came to a surprisingly quick tentative agreement. Our demands that were achieved include...
The deadline to apply is April 1st. The Building the Power to Win campaign was launched in February 2021 and is moving at a good pace to continue CUPW’s preparation for mass education and mobilizing in view of the next round of bargaining. In the coming weeks, CUPW will set up a steering committee made up of two members per region, and they will set down the framework to further our efforts. We are at a critical juncture. Fill out this application form in order to be considered for selection as a member of the steering committee.
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Canada needs a postal bank. Thousands of rural towns and villages in our country do not have a bank, but many of them have a post office that could provide financial services. As well, nearly two million Canadians desperately need an alternative to payday lenders. A postal bank could be that alternative. Download and sign the petition urging the Government of Canada to instruct Canada Post to add postal banking, with a mandate for financial inclusion.
Tomorrow, August 20, your Negotiating Committee will return to the bargaining table to present new global offers for both postal bargaining units to Canada Post.
Unfortunately, our scheduled meetings for Friday, August 15th and Monday, August 18th, have been postponed. The Federal mediators will not be able to assist CUPW and CPC due to their current involvement in the Air Canada negotiations.
This September, CUPW joins its Malayali brothers and sisters with joy and pride to observe Onam celebrations in Canada. Onam is one of the most significant regional festivals celebrated in Kerala, the southernmost state of India.
After pressing the Employer to come back to the bargaining table early last week, we received a response from Canada Post CEO Doug Ettinger on Friday evening, just hours after we posted Bulletin 128, “CUPW is Waiting for Canada Post.” In his letter, Mr. Ettinger stuck to the lines we’ve heard from Canada Post for many months now.
A week ago, CUPW members spoke loudly and rejected what Canada Post called its “best and final” offers. The goal of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers remains negotiating ratifiable collective agreements which meet postal workers’ needs, help grow the current services provided by a public post office and to better serve Canadians with new services.
Last week, postal workers decisively rejected Canada Post’s “best and final offers” in the government-forced vote. With a turnout of over 80%, nearly 70% of our members told Canada Post, “No, these offers won’t do it!”
Every employer in the Federal and Provincial sector has been watching us. Rejecting these offers was a victory not only for our Union, but for the labour movement as a whole.
To all CUPW members,
Thank you for showing up, for standing together, and for participating in the government forced vote. Regardless of how you voted, your participation was an act of solidarity and strength. And for those who voted to reject the final offers, your decision sent a powerful message: “We know our worth, and we deserve better”.
After almost two weeks of voting, the results are now in: CUPW members in both bargaining units have spoken, and they have rejected Canada Post’s global offers.
We’ve now entered the second and final week of the government-imposed forced vote on Canada Post’s “final” offers. As of July 28, 69 % of Urban members and 71.4 % of RSMC members have already casted their vote. Voting continues until 5 pm EST on August 1.
On March 24, 2021, the House of Commons voted to designate August 1st as Emancipation Day to commemorate the slavery abolition act of 1833, which took effect in 1834 and paved the way for the liberation of over 800,000 enslaved Black people across the “British Empire”, including parts of the Caribbean, Africa, South America and Canada.