OTTAWA - Last night, the federal Minister of Labour MaryAnn Mihychuk requested that the Canadian Union of Postal Workers and Canada Post management both agree to a 24-hour extension of timelines, in order to allow for the negotiation of a longer extension and ongoing talks.
Yesterday, the Government proposed that the parties agree to a 24-hour extension of our strike mandate. The NEB agreed to this proposal but Canada Post refused it. How many more times will the Government allow Canada Post management to ignore its requests? The Government also stated that it will appoint a high-profile mediator.
Yesterday we met with Canada Post and the Minister of Labour with the mediators present, to review all the issues in dispute. We were anticipating a different approach, but instead it was the same old rhetoric. Canada Post is maintaining its unacceptable demands rollbacks: precarious part-time and temporary employment, no improvements in staffing, the ability to close all 493 protected CUPW staffed retail locations eliminating up to 1200 full-time jobs, continuing the attack on our retirement security by wanting to increase the cost of retiree benefits and changing to a defined contribution pension plan for all new regular employees and to change the working conditions for all Urban employees. Canada Post’s proposal on pay equity for RSMCs was nothing more than an attempt to complicate and delay that process. Canada Post wants to drag out pay equity with binding arbitration, a process that could take years or even decades. . Surprisingly, Canada Post did not include any demands for growth during its presentations yesterday. Canada Post mentioned nothing about parcels or unaddressed admail or any other way to increase revenues and grow the company. This is not an approach that will lead to negotiated collective agreements.
Today we are meeting with Canada Post and the mediators to identify the key issues for each side that need to be resolved if we are going to achieve negotiated collective agreements. Representing CUPW will be National President Mike Palecek, 1st National Vice-President Jan Simpson, and both CUPW chief negotiators George Floresco and Sylvain Lapointe. CPC will be represented by CEO Deepak Chopra and other senior representatives.
This morning we met with representatives of the Federal Government and Canada Post management to discuss the current state of negotiations. The government was represented by Treasury Board President Scott Brison and senior officials from Labour Canada and Treasury Board. CPC was represented by CEO President Deepak Chopra and other senior representatives. Representing CUPW was National President Mike Palecek, 1st National Vice-President Jan Simpson, and both CUPW chief negotiators George Floresco (also 3rd National Vice-President) and Sylvain Lapointe (also National Director, Metro-Montreal Region).
As the end of our strike vote mandate looms ever closer, what is Canada Post waiting for? Are they content to sit back and see what we will do on August 25? Do they want us to take some form of strike action so that they can then lock us out? Do they want negotiated collective agreements or do they want to battle this out?
Canada Post spokesperson, Jon Hamilton is at it again. He is continuing to try and put his spin on the serious issue of RSMC pay equity. Is this how Canada Post intends to address this issue?
There have been many questions about how the Canada Labour Code applies to our current situation. As you know, we held a strike vote and that mandate is good for 60 days. Our 60-day period ends on August 25, 2016. What are our options at that point?
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On International Women’s Day, we honour the achievements of women while also confronting the gender inequality and misogyny that persist in our society.
The National Constitution sets the basic dues rate for Urban Operations workers at 300% of the maximum hourly rate for the lowest classification within the bargaining unit.
RSMC dues have been set at 1.71% of the wage portion received by each member, to a maximum equal to the dues for Urban members. Some Locals have bylaws for a local assessment over and above the monthly basic dues.
CUPW and Canada Post met with Commissioner Kaplan after the fourth day of hearings of the Industrial Inquiry Commission to discuss the next steps. During this meeting, the Parties agreed to return to a parallel two-day negotiations process on March 1 and 2 to try to negotiate new collective agreements for the Urban and RSMC units. Mr. Kaplan will once again serve as Mediator.
Today, February 20, the Industrial Inquiry Commission resumed for a fourth day of hearings with both CUPW and Canada Post presenting their rebuttals.
The Parties were asked to provide detailed costed proposals for this month’s hearings. While CUPW presented well-thought out and researched proposals, the Corporation repeated the same old talking points without submitting documentation or costing to prove that its proposals could return Canada Post to financial sustainability. The Corporation instead proposed new language.
Bar charts are calculated from September 1 to August 31 annually. Because of the strike, which took place from November 15 to December 13, 2024, there were only nine working days each in November and December. In this case, we concluded an agreement with Canada Post, similar to the one reached in 2018, to exclude those 22 days from the bar charts calculations.
Today, February 19, the Industrial Inquiry Commission held its third day of hearings. We received an update on the number of submissions made to the Commission before the public deadline – approximately 900! The Commission hopes to have these all made available to the Parties by Friday.
CUPW is gearing up for its flagship education initiative, the Union Education Program (UEP), which will take place over four weeks in 2025. The Program is intended to build leadership capacity in our Union. Your application must be submitted by March 1, 2025 ...
OTTAWA - Today, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers will continue to present its case during two days of hearings at the Industrial Inquiry Commission in Ottawa.