Public Service Alliance of Canada BC

Source: The Ottawa Citizen, November 26, page A1

A day after the Public Service Alliance of Canada announced a new federal contract that reflects the tough economic times, the union is giving no ground at Canada Post, where 2,100 of its members are on strike over sick leave.

Under a deal proposed by Canada Post, union members would get a new contract that includes a 10.5-per-cent wage increase over four years. But the workers walked out last week over a contentious proposal by Canada Post to roll back sick leave and eventually phase it out.

The union says Canada Post is trying to claw back health gains enshrined in previous agreements and members would not stand for it.

At a news conference yesterday, PSAC president John Gordon vowed the union will not be bullied into making concessions that, in the end, will give insurance companies the final say on the health of its members.

“Our members are willing to stay on strike until they get a collective agreement that recognizes their rights,” Mr. Gordon said.

Denis Lemelin, president of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, joined Mr. Gordon to warn that the strike will disrupt mail delivery during the busy Christmas period.

“The mail flow is already being affected and it will affect mail at Christmastime. They will lose a lot of people during Christmas,” Mr. Lemelin said, even though Canada Post dismisses such a prospect.

Some experts say the union is taking a gamble by going on strike over the right to bank sick leave at a time when other workers are facing job losses and cuts to pension benefits. The strike could backfire on PSAC if Christmas mail is indeed slowed down.

“The prime minister just talked about this being the most significant economic downturn in our generation, and I find it difficult to understand why any union leader will lead their members to a strike over sick leave,” said Patrick Culhane, president of the Canadian Payroll Association, which represents private-sector and some public-sector employers.

The union’s Mr. Gordon, however, said that what’s at stake has nothing to do with the current financial turmoil, or the need for unions to be more moderate in their wage demands.

He stressed that there is a lot of difference between the federal contract PSAC tentatively agreed to on Sunday night — worth a 6.8-per-cent wage increase over four years for more than 100,000 public servants — and the attempt by a profit-making corporation to roll back gains that affect the health of employees.

The union says Canada Post is trying to get rid of what it considers a liability to improve its balance sheet, and it is using the smaller PSAC group, which makes up only four per cent of the corporation’s workforce, as a test case. Mr. Lemelin agrees, saying Canada Post’s ultimate aim is the much-larger CUPW and other unions.

Canada Post spokesman John Caines says the contract offer is generous and the changes to sick leave and disability benefits are designed to help all workers in time of emergency — not only those who have banked a lot of sick leave.

“It is there to protect employees no matter how long they’ve been at Canada Post. This offer is something we believe is good for all employees,” Mr. Caines said.

The Canada Post offer includes:

- Reduction in the number of sick leave and family days available to employees to seven days from 20.

- Payment for unused personal days at the end of each year.

- One-time cash payments for banked sick leave according to an established schedule. For instance, employees with sick-leave banks of 300 to 400 days — the equivalent of 20 years of work without being sick — would get $2,000. Those with 150 days — or 10 years work without being sick — would get $500.

- A freeze on accumulating sick leave by Dec. 31 next year, at which time whatever is banked can only be used to top up insurance payments or federal Employment Insurance.

The union argues that changes to sick leave benefits are bad for workers. Negotiators have several objections:

- Cutting sick leave and family days to seven from 20 is not progress, but a clawback by a company making huge profits.

- Instead of dipping into the sick leave bank when they are actually sick, employees would be required under the new system to apply for employment insurance and use sick leave to make up a shortfall in their wages.

- The union is particularly worried that under the changes, insurance company doctors — not family doctors — will decide whether employees are sick enough for long-term disability.