CUPW Perspective (April 2016) (Pdf)

Back row: George Floresco – Chief Negotiator, RSMC unit; Manon Gagné; Anna Beale; Peter Butcher; Cathy Kennedy; Nancy Beauchamp; Sylvain Lapointe – Chief Negotiator, Urban unit; Geoff Bickerton Front row: Sharon Samuels; Zaimene Carter; Philippe Arbour; Barbara McMillan; Stephen Gale; Peter Denley Negotiations – Our Collective Responsibility Page 2 To create tomorrow’s Negotiations are underway. Job security, by Canada Post, cannot through rough times. To be public postal service At the time of writing this accommodate parcel volume effective, we need their role – article, we don’t have all the contracting-out fluctuations, whether short and the right to appropriate Page 3 particulars of Canada Post’s term spikes or overall growth. training – officially Putting A Postie demands, but it is clear that and new on Parliament Hill: there is a huge gulf between This situation is creating recognized in the collective an interview with the parties. Convincing services serious overburdening. agreement. Karen Trudel the employer that their Among many important We must find a solution. strategy of cuts and roll demands, full job security is backs to increase profits is wrong is taking a lot of effort. a high priority. Job security Wages and We firmly believe that our provisions must include long Health and approach, which is based on term guarantees. That means benefits growing Canada Post, will we need significant protection Safety The last round of negotia guarantee the future of our against contracting out of our public universal postal When Canada Post intro tions was halted by Stephen Page 4 service, while preserving work. It’s a matter of security duces new technologies or Harper’s Conservatives and decent jobs. and stability for our families. work methods, independent their back-to-work legisla- Bargaining Negotiations are not just We also want Canada Post to and serious studies must be tion, which trampled our to Create about the employer’s explore new revenue conducted to identify health right to bargain freely – and Full-Time Jobs demands. Our demands also generating services. That and safety risks before change imposed even lower wage matter. After all, as workers, Page 5 means Canada Post must is implemented. We’re also increases than what the we are the ones doing every Delivering thing we can to provide the demonstrate faith in the seeking precautionary employer had proposed! public with the best possible cessation of work for So we assert that the start Community workers. The future success Power service, and who are of any project will be based pregnant workers. ing point for this round of dealing with workplace on the strength and talent of bargaining is to make up the issues. It’s about time Canada Post recognized our the workers who deliver the wage increase that we should contribution in a concrete service, the same workers Staffing have received at the time. way. Attacking our working who have made Canada Post But it’s not just about wage Considering the employer’s conditions and security is a trusted crown corporation increase and protection from definitely not how to show abusive use of part-time and already. We will also have to inflation. We also need to recognition. temporary hours, we need to show Canada Post how well improve benefits and protect Here’s a look at some of our implement a system that our members could perform a post-retirement benefits. demands. creates full-time positions. lot of the work currently done Page 6 by contractors. To do so, we need access to all of the data to enable us to Postal Banking A Single identify the spots where part Canada Post’s A bank for everyone! Collective time hours worked justify Approach Delivery Method full-time job creation. (More As mentioned earlier, we Agreement For about seven years Postal on staffing on page 4) don’t have all the particulars RSMC members obtained Transformation – aka Modern of Canada Post’s demands at employee status on January Post has been implemented. the time of writing. However, 1st, 2004, after mobilizing to We have to resolve, once Social Stewards there are already many end decades of exploitation. and for all, the one-bundle demands for rollbacks. Since then, they have been delivery method. Members are increasingly experiencing distress; some These touch on time paid but bargaining to obtain the same Other aspects of the delivery Pages 8-12 have even taken their own not worked – such as annual wages and working conditions system also have to be Trustees Report lives. A well-trained network leave, paid breaks and other as urban unit members. corrected, such as percentage of social stewards would help. leave – implementation of a The challenge is to unite the of coverage, the mail volume Some areas of the country defined contribution pension units in such a way that every index, and the time values have active social stewards plan, reduced benefits, and one benefits, meaning that the assigned to daily tasks. As – they provide vital support wages and working conditions well, the current delivery Continued on page 4 to workers in crisis or going of all groups in the urban unit system for parcels, as imposed improve too. PUBLICATIONS MAIL AGREEMENT NO. 40064660 RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES TO CANADIAN UNION OF POSTAL WORKERS 377 BANK STREET OTTAWA ON K2P 1Y3 E D I T O R I A L Putting A Postie on Parliament Hill: To Create Tomorrow’s Public Postal Service an Interview with Karine Trudel This round of bargaining world. We listen to our the government replace ment, with improvements them with those who will. for all the members of the is actually an opportunity communities on how a In 2015, CUPW made history in a number to define the future role of public postal service can Now the Corporation’s unified bargaining unit. our public postal service in play a part in supporting representatives at the of different ways. One memorable moment our communities. and vitalizing communi bargaining table are stuck They’re not responding to was the election of Karine Trudel as a ties. We will stand up with tunnel vision. They our constructive ideas – for added services that federal NDP MP for the riding of Jonquière can see only cuts as a not yet anyway. We have We’ve known success benefit the people, the in Québec. Sister Trudel has been a long solution – to a manufac a long way to go. Even with innovation and new workers at Canada Post, tured crisis. They won’t when our discussions time President of CUPW Local 390 and services – we’ve agreed and the institution as a look at the ideas that we become intense, we intend to new pilots on service whole. many postal workers were active in her delivery and job creation. put forward on the basis to maintain a positive and victorious election campaign. On the way We’re negotiating for a We went into this round of respect for the workers, appropriate approach. We new collective agreement prepared to listen to the Even Canada Post has respect for public services, will not be pushed around to her new job as an MP, Karine Trudel that will cover both the public and take the future visionary elements and consideration for the nor patronized. We have dropped by the CUPW office to meet with Rural and Suburban Mail long-term development of head on with a formula to somewhere inside it. been there before, and national representatives and offer us the P: So union activism was great training for politics? Carriers (RSMC) and the protect our jobs, improve For almost four years it the institution. there’s no reason to put Urban Postal Operations our working conditions conducted an extensive up with it anymore. With following interview for Perspective: (UPO) members. K: Yes it was. The media training alone made a difference. At home, and offer more services to study on the introduc- We’ve listened to them the membership’s Certainly we need wage there is a host of media and the opportunity for very close contact with the public. tion of postal banking detail some of their support in the workplace and benefits improve- P: Karine, why did you decide to run as a candidate for the them, and I had to give several interviews just before the lockout in or financial services to demands to change our and our allies’ support in ments, and to stop the New Democratic Party? 2011. It seemed I was doing interviews every 15 minutes, on the radio, the post office network. collective agreements. our communities we will erosion of past gains – Our employer, on the in the press…. So by the time the federal election came round and I had Then someone – probably Their proposals take away be successful. Postal Transformation other side of the table, K: In June 2014, Conservative minister Peter MacKay … commented to deal with the media, the training I got proved to be very useful. the old Harper govern- rights and reduce our and the Harper/Chopra is more prepared to use In Solidarity, on a radio program that the reason women were underrepresented on ment – killed the study. wages and benefits. We 5-Point Plan have outdated information and the Supreme Court was that they felt guilty about leaving the house P: What’s the first thing you’re planning to say as an MP? The CEO of Canada Post have patiently explained hurt the service and faulty studies to condemn because they had children to raise. said that senior manage that this is not 2011. We degraded our the postal service to shrink K: I’m asking questions about Canada Post.

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