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Monday November 25 2024

2023-2027/168

No. 52

On November 22, Canada Post released its financial results for the 3^rd quarter of 2024.

For the three months ending in September 2024, the Corporation reported a loss from operations of $313 million. Overall revenue was down $15 million compared to the same time last year, as growing revenue from Neighbourhood Mail and Transaction Mail were not enough to offset lower parcel volumes.

Public Services over Profits

Canada Post is a public service. It is not a private, for-profit operation.

Postal workers deliver to every address in the country – no matter how remote. We go places the private sector won’t go because profit not service is their bottom line. While the competition puts corporate profit over everything else, we’re proud to offer services to everyone.

In the past week, we’ve heard many stories about just how much people and communities rely on our public postal service. In much of the country, no competitor can match our service quality, coverage, or our prices. Postal workers have every reason to be proud of the work they do. 

The Whole Story

No doubt, Canada Post will try to use this report to its advantage at the bargaining table and in the media. We can’t let them scare us into taking concessions that sell out our future co-workers.

The Corporation says it is running out of cash. But remember, Canada Post has invested hundreds of millions of dollars into new equipment, new vehicles, and a new parcel processing centre over the past few years.

Workers can’t be made to pay for the Corporation’s current financial condition.

A Way Forward

The best way for Canada Post to recover from its current financial situation is to invest in new, revenue-generating services like postal banking and wellness check-ins.

Years ago, we presented Canada Post with plans to expand services at our public post office. It’s time the Employer takes our proposals seriously to provide Canadians with the world-class service they deserve.

In solidarity,

Jan Simpson

National President

Monday November 25 2024

2023-2027/167

No. 51

In several regions across the country, Canada Post has been calling CUPW members to lay them off. While some are saying it is temporary, we’ve heard stories that it may be more permanent. These types of phone calls are merely a scare tactic by Management. We urge members not to panic if you receive such a call. Instead, take note of what the management representative says and then request a record of employment and estimated date of return in order to allow you to apply for EI benefits.

Section 94 (3) of the Canada Labour Code has protection for this type of occurrence:

Unfair Practices

Marginal note: Employer interference in trade union…

Prohibitions relating to employers

(3)    No employer or person acting on behalf of an employer shall:

• (a)   refuse to employ or to continue to employ or suspend, transfer, lay off or otherwise discriminate against any person with respect to employment, pay or any other term or condition of employment or intimidate, threaten or otherwise discipline any person, because the person;

…

–      (vi)    has participated in a strike that is not prohibited by this Part or exercised any right under this Part;

At this point, individuals should ask their local or region to file a grievance as per the usual process as if the Collective Agreements were in force and respect the time delays contained in Article 9 of the Urban and RSMC collective agreements, which is 25 days after being made aware of the lay-off for an individual grievance.  At this point, members should not contact a lawyer or file a complaint with the CIRB. We will issue further directions if and when it becomes relevant to do so.

The Union will deal with all violations of the Canadian Labour Code and Collective Agreement should it come into play. What the Union requires is information about your specific case. Please send this information through your usual channel, either by contacting your steward or Local, who will in turn send the information to the Region and the National Union. As we are currently looking into this and other issues with our legal councils, it will be important to provide this information to the Union as soon as possible to ensure that we have the ability to deal with it in relevant time.

It is clear that Canada Post cannot lay off current employees and bring someone different back to do the work after a strike/lockout. If you are made aware of such actions by CPC, please advise the Union as soon as possible.

To get updates on Negotiations and other Union news directly to your inbox, sign up for eDigest, at: https://www.cupw.ca/en/cupw-edigest.

In Solidarity,

Carl Girouard

National Grievance Officer

Friday November 22 2024

2023-2027/166

No. 50

Yesterday, November 21, the Negotiators continued bargaining with Canada Post with the help of the government’s mediators.

Urban Unit

Again, much of the Urban Unit’s focus was on the Corporation’s demand for weekend parcel delivery.

Canada Post told the Negotiators it would have a new proposal on weekend delivery early in the morning. Instead, the Employer did not provide it to us until well into the evening. The Negotiators are still reviewing the proposal, but at first glance, it does not go far enough to address our concerns.

The parties also exchanged proposals and positions on Group 3 and 4 issues, minimum hours for part-time workers in Group 2, overtime, renewing dates in the collective agreement, and a new Vehicle Mechanic VHE apprenticeship program. 

RSMC Unit

The RSMC Unitfocused on outstanding issues for the new hourly rate system.

The Negotiators received updated responses from Canada Post dealing with automated volume counts, various sort activities, and data transparency.

The Negotiators are also reviewing Canada Post’s latest responses addressing drive times and stop times.

Your Support Matters!

The Negotiators thank all members for all their support, from volunteering to deliver socio-economic cheques to holding strong on the picket line!

We are 55,000 strong, and together we are unstoppable!

To get updates on Negotiations and other Union news directly to your inbox, sign up for eDigest, at: https://www.cupw.ca/en/cupw-edigest.

In Solidarity,

Jan Simpson

National President

Friday November 22 2024

Canada Post is a public service, not a profit-driven corporation, even though it operated profitably for many years. Postal workers deliver to every address in the country, including where competitors won’t go because they can’t make a profit. During our ongoing negotiations, we’ve heard countless stories about how much people rely on Canada Post. Without this public service, many people must travel far distances and pay much more for alternative services, if any even exist. The reported losses published over the last few years don’t tell the whole story. Canada Post has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to grow its parcel business, yet overall labour costs have decreased during the last few years.  

For many years, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers has urged Canada Post to take the Union’s proposals to expand services at the post office seriously. Canada Post could recover from the financial situation it finds itself in by investing in new revenue-generating services like postal banking and senior-check-in services as other postal services across the world have already done.

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For more information, please contact:  

• EN – CUPW Communications, at 613-882-2742 or at media@cupw-sttp.org 
• FR – Yannick Scott, National Director, Metro-Montreal Region, at 514-2205950 or at  yscott@cupw-sttp.org 

2023-2027/160

No. 44

On the morning of Tuesday, November 12, your National Executive Board issued a 72-hour strike notice to Canada Post for both the Rural Suburban Mail Carriers (RSMC) and Urban Operations bargaining units.

The National Executive Board has decided that a nationwide strike of both bargaining units will begin on Friday, November 15 as of 12:01 a.m. Eastern Time.

Unresolved Issues

Common

• Wage increases in line with inflation
• COLA payments to be rolled into the basic wage rate
• Increase STDP payments from 70% to 80% of our wages and increase Injury on Duty payments to 88%
• Add 10 paid medical days to our 7 paid personal days, and allow medical days to be banked
• Significant improvements to our group benefits plans, including increased coverage for health specialists, fertility treatment, gender-affirming care, vision care, and more
• Precautionary cessation of work for pregnant and breastfeeding employees
• Improved protections against technological change
• Improved protections against harassment
• No contracting out

RSMC

• Job security rights in line with the Urban agreement
• Hourly rate system with appropriate time values, Union involvement, and safeguards against CPC’s unilateral change
• A validation process to ensure time values are accurate
• Maximizing and maintaining 8-hour routes
• Corporate vehicle for all RSMCs
• Improved rights for On Call Relief Employees (OCREs)
• Coverage of all absences
• Paid meal and rest period rights in line with Group 2
• RSMC involvement in service expansion projects

Urban Operations

• The full elimination of Separate Sort from Delivery (SSD)
• Time to prepare and deliver Neighbourhood Mail and changes to Article 50 and Appendices “V-1” and “D” to address route length and overburdening
• Improved staffing provisions, including forcing CPC to fill vacancies monthly, the deletion of Clause 39.04, improvements to Clause 39.05, creation of Group 1 relief positions, and changes to Appendix “P” to address local staffing issues
• Improved rights for Temporary employees, including access to group benefits plans when working continuous assignments of 6 months or more
• Rotations of duties for Groups 3 and 4
• Paid meal and rest periods for workers working 5 hours or more
• Contract in cleaning, highway services, Combined Urban Services, and other work CUPW members can perform
• Service expansion projects, including postal banking, senior and other check ins, and an e-commerce platform

Communications

Stay informed, watch your bulletin boards, email, follow CUPW on twitter at @cupw, at facebook.com/cupwsttp and sign up for CUPW’s e-Digest https://www.cupw.ca/en/cupw-edigest.

We are 55,000 strong, and together, we are unstoppable.

In Solidarity,

Jan Simpson

National President

OTTAWA – Some 55,000 postal workers represented by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) went on a nationwide strike on Friday, November 15 at 12:01am ET.  

After a year of bargaining with little progress, postal workers made the difficult decision to strike. Canada Post had the opportunity to prevent this strike, but it has refused to negotiate real solutions to the issues postal workers face every day. Instead, Canada Post left us no choice when it threatened to change our working conditions and leave our members exposed to layoffs. 

Our demands are reasonable: fair wages, safe working conditions, the right to retire with dignity, and the expansion of services at the public post office. Postal workers are proud to serve their communities, and we want to do the job we love. A strike is a last resort.  We still believe we can achieve negotiated collective agreements, but Canada Post must be willing to resolve our new and outstanding issues.

For more information, please contact:  

EN – Siân Griffiths, CUPW Communications, at 613-882-2742 or at media@cupw-sttp.org 

FR – Yannick Scott, National Director, Metro-Montreal Region, at 514-2205950 or at    yscott@cupw-sttp.org