As we approach the expiry date of the Urban and RSMC collective agreements, we would like to clarify any questions members may have about the application of their rights.
At the bargaining table this week, the Union and Employer presented starkly clashing visions for the futures of Urban Article 41 and RSMC Article 30, covering surveillance and monitoring.
Currently, our collective agreements ensure Canada Post cannot use security camera footage, Global Positioning Systems (GPS), or other electronic monitoring systems to gather evidence to discipline employees. The Employer’s surveillance systems can only be used to protect the mail and corporate property against criminal acts, such as theft.
Since mid-November, the Urban and RSMC Negotiating Committees have met several times with Canada Post to exchange bargaining proposals. On the Union side, so far, we have presented a number of demands from our Program...
On Wednesday November 15, CUPW and Canada Post officially opened the 2023-24 round of bargaining for our next collective agreement.
The two sides’ negotiating committees met to exchange their respective slates of demands and to outline their priorities for the coming round.
In addition to presenting its demands, Canada Post gave the Union an overview of the Corporation’s financial position and its business strategy.
In the coming weeks, members are being asked to make some big decisions about the future of our Union. Not only are we voting on our program of demands for our next round of bargaining, but we are also holding a referendum on a topic we’ve debated for a long time: the merger of our two biggest bargaining units into one.
For the 2023 – 2024 round of negotiations, the National Executive Board has appointed the Urban Operations Negotiation Committee. Four members will be joining Lead Negotiator, Sister Lana Smidt. They will be a strong committee, bringing decades of experience to the table.
Support Postal Banking - Download and Sign the Petition
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.
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.
On July 23, Canada Post shared some information about its “final” offers and the vote that is currently underway with members. Information was shared via email as well as distributed in some workplaces.