We are still meeting virtually with CPC on the issue of pay increments and the corrections. Canada Post has started paying out members who were underpaid and expect everyone to be fully compensated by the end of 2020.
The new Collective Agreements imposed by Arbitrator MacPherson address some of our concerns, but also leave some major issues unresolved. This award is a great example of how we cannot resolve our issues with compulsory arbitration. We need free collective bargaining and the right to strike. These rights have always been the power behind our major contractual gains.
Following the publication of the arbitration award of Arbitrator MacPherson, Canada Post management formally requested that she correct her award with respect to the monetary increases for the variable allowance (householder delivery) and the knowledge sort and civic address allowance.
Fairly early on in this process, the parties were able to negotiate and sign language giving the Union access to the information that Canada Post uses to restructure letter carrier and RSMC routes. To many of you this may not appear to be related to overburdening, but it is one of the keys that will allow us to fully investigate how the data is used to restructure our routes.
The Arbitrator’s decision contained some improvements to address the issue of overtime on letter carrier routes. She did not accept all of our proposals to allow letter carriers more options to reduce the overtime on their routes.
Over the years, the Union’s top priority has been and continues to be to ensure that temporary employees have access to regular employment and that these employees, as well as part-time employees, have access to regular full-time positions. This not only ensures that they can move up the salary ladder based on their length of service as regular employees, but also gives them full rights to all benefits including, the extended health care plan and the defined benefit pension plan, to name a few.
While the Arbitrator did not completely fix the multiple bundle delivery method for letter carriers, she did award other language that will help to address the issue of overburdening on letter carrier routes.
The Union argued to Arbitrator MacPherson that regular employees of the Urban Unit as of the date of her decision should have full job security, meaning a limited radius of 40 kilometres for relocation if they are declared surplus. Canada Post wanted to remove this protection from the collective agreement by obtaining a letter of intent granting this protection, but only until the expiry date of the collective agreement, January 31, 2022. In addition, Canada Post asked the arbitrator to allow it not to fill vacant positions in Group 2 when a surplus is anticipated.
Job Retention is new for RSMCs. Since RSMCs are now paid the derived hourly rate of Letter Carriers, there could be an incentive for Canada Post to contract out bargaining unit work. CUPW needed to ensure the work that RSMCs perform every day is protected.
Arbitrator MacPherson awarded the Urban and RSMC bargaining units the same wage increases as follows: 2018: 2.0%; 2019: 2.0%; 2020: 2.5%; 2021: 2.9%; The RSMC increases are effective January 1st of each year and the Urban increases are effective February 1st of each year as these are the effective dates of the collective agreements. The duration of each agreement is 4 years.
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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.