Public Service Alliance of Canada BC

As you may have heard, members of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) who are employed at Canada Post and are members of Union of Postal Communications Employees (UPCE) Component walked out on strike across the country earlier today. They are facing an intransigent employer who is asking for significant concessions to their benefits which we have achieved in earlier rounds of negotiations.

Your PSAC Sisters and Brothers are in a fight for a fair and equitable collective agreement and need your support to achieve it.

Please contact your Regional Office to find out how you can support these striking workers. Members can join in solidarity on picket lines at the mail processing plant on Glanford Avenue in Victoria and in downtown Vancouver at the main depot on Georgia Street. The latest news and updates will be available here at the regional website.

Collectively, with your help, we will achieve a successful settlement.

Strength & In Solidarity, Kay Sinclair, Regional Executive Vice-President, BC

OTTAWA –Canada Post has chosen to launch a media campaign rather than bargain directly and in good faith with the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), says the union that represents 2,400 striking Canada Post employees.

“Canada Post has not had a face to face meeting with the PSAC bargaining team since November 7,” says John Gordon, PSAC National President. “The PSAC bargaining team is fully able and willing to negotiate a collective agreement, but they need to be provided with sufficient opportunity to do so”.

Canada Post, on the eve of a strike, knowing full well that the PSAC bargaining team was not immediately available,chose to provide a single copy of a last minute offer to a mediator yesterday evening.

Shortly after, a press release detailing the offer was posted on the CPC web site.

“This is simply another example of CPC’s blatant disregard for its employees and the requirement to bargain fairly” said Mr. Gordon.

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Members of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) set up picket lines early this morning at the Canada Post mail processing plants in Victoria and Vancouver to protest against the corporation’s efforts to impose a new short term disability system that was clearly rejected by almost 9 out of 10 of those employees.

“Our members voted 88% in favour of strike action because they don’t want the new short term disability system,” said PSAC National President, John Gordon. “They just want to protect the sick leaves and family leaves they have acquired in the past,” he added.

The collective agreement between PSAC and Canada Post expired on August 31, 2008. The union served the employer a notice to bargain on May 1, 2008, and the negotiations began on June 4, 2008.

In defence of the strike, Gordon explained that members have considered the strike option only because they have been pushed to the wall.

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Ottawa – Members of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) served a 72 hour strike notice yesterday to Canada Post Corporation to protest against the corporation’s efforts to impose a new short term disability system that was clearly rejected by almost 9 out of 10 of those employees.

“Our members voted 88% in favour of strike action because they don’t want the new short term disability system,” said PSAC National President, John Gordon. “They just want to protect the sick leaves and family leaves they have acquired in the past,” he added.

The strike will begin on Monday November 17 if negotiations remain at an impasse. The collective agreement between PSAC and Canada Post expired on August 31, 2008. The union served the employer a notice to bargain on May 1, 2008, and the negotiations began on June 4, 2008.

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OTTAWA — Canada Post Corporation (CPC) is trying to use the government’s Employment Insurance program to reduce its own costs, according to the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) — the union that represents about 2,400 CPC employees.

In current contract negotiations with PSAC, CPC has been attempting to implement a new short-term disability system that would rely on EI as a major part of a new and minimal short-term disability plan. The new system would require employees to apply for EI benefits in the event of extended illness, even in cases where employees have accumulated sick leave in the “bank.”

Employment insurance is there to protect workers who are laid off, especially in hard economic times like these, says PSAC National President John Gordon. “It’s not meant to be used to bail out profitable corporations like Canada Post.”

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Dear Member,

The bargaining team was hopeful that a return to the bargaining table November 6 and 7 would result in a tentative agreement. On November 6 we tabled a proposal that contained new compromises in an effort to reach a collective agreement.

CPC responded with a third offer that was virtually unchanged from their October 30 proposals.

On Job Security – article 28.01, CPC again confirmed that they are not prepared to continue the past practice whereby all current employees receive full job security at the date of contract signing. This refusal leaves anyone with less than 5 years of service with no surplus protection and even more vulnerable to layoffs.

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OTTAWA — Canada Post is resorting to unfair labour practices in its contract talks with the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) and the Union of Postal Communications Employees (UPCE), the union charges.

“Canada Post has issued misleading statements to its employees and is disregarding provisions of the Canada Labour Code,” says John Gordon, President of the Public Service Alliance of Canada. PSAC is the bargaining agent representing the members of the component UPCE.

The misleading statements identified by Gordon appear in internal communications issued by the employer about a new short-term disability system that the corporation is trying to impose on its employees in order to replace existing sick leave and family leave provisions in the collective agreement.

On its internal website, which is accessible to all Canada Post employees, the employer indicates that changes to the sick leave and family leave provisions in the collective agreement will come into effect on January 1, 2010. This statement ignores the fact that these changes have not yet been negotiated with the union.

Canada Post’s proposed changes are highly controversial. Union members provided their bargaining team with an 88% strike mandate, largely based on their opposition to these leave proposals.

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Dear member,

In October, you turned out in record numbers to provide your bargaining team with a clear mandate.

CPC’s proposed rollbacks on job security, benefits and vacation entitlements were unacceptable. The wage offer was inadequate and the proposed sick leave scheme was deplorable.

With that strong mandate, your team immediately requested a return to the bargaining table. We did so with the expectation that CPC would meet again with the goal of achieving a fair collective agreement. Taken at face value, it seems that CPC made significant changes with a second offer. The truth of the matter is, while there have been some improvements on key issues - the sick leave proposal has only been tinkered with.

In tabling their second offer, CPC has attempted to buy your future in the coming collective agreement and for the foreseeable future in the cheapest way possible. In return for small lump sum payments, CPC wants to remove your right to manage your own health in consultation with your physician. They want a Manulife to intervene as the third party who gets to approve or deny your sick leave.

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Short-term disability plans and sick leave plans have a similar goal: each is a different kind of program that’s designed to offer employees insurance against the loss in income that would otherwise result from illness or injury.

• National website: Canada Post’s Short-term Disability Plan: The Numbers How much do you stand to lose?

We presently have a sick leave program that is broadly shared across federal public employers in Canada. Hundreds of federal employers have the same kind of sick leave that you currently have working at Canada Post. This sick leave program has a number of very good features:

• It provides you with 100% income support when you’re sick.
• There is no minimum threshold – if you’re sick for one day, you can use a sick day and you get one day’s pay
• You do not need to convince an external insurance company like Manulife that you are sick. You and your Doctor know your health best, and his or her note is what you need to take sick leave.

Short-term disability plans have a terrible acronym – STDs, but are not necessarily bad – some, in fact, provide excellent income support when someone is ill or injured. But other short-term disability programs provide poor income support. The devil is in the details.

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1. When will we go on strike? The union can legally serve the 72 hour strike notice midnight November 4. So the earliest possible strike date is November 7. You will be advised by your strike picket captain.

2. Can the parties still negotiate between now and then? The parties can negotiate any time between now and then. The parties can also negotiate once the notice has been given and a strike begins. The union’s bargaining team has been clear that they are available any time to negotiate a fair deal. .

3. What about my benefits? PSAC will pay your benefit premiums during a strike or lockout to ensure there is no interruption in coverage.

4. How much is strike pay? Strike pay is governed by Regulation 6 and is $50.00 per day after 3 days on strike in a rotating or general strike situation. It is retroactive to the first day. Strike pay is non-taxable. If strategic strike action is taken then 65% of your salary will be paid.

5. What kind of strike action will we take? That’s a strategic issue that will be decided by the National Strike Co-ordinating Committee. The decision will be based on what will be most effective in achieving a collective agreement. The committee will consider the potential impact on the employer and the membership.

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Ottawa—Canada Post management is bringing a group of its employees to the brink of a strike by trying to impose a new Short-term Disability System that was clearly rejected by almost 9 out of 10 of those employees. The workers are represented by the Union of Postal Communications Employees (UPCE), a component of the 160,000 member Public Service Alliance of Canada

“Canada Post recently signed collective agreements with other larger groups of employees and never imposed this ludicrous Short-term Disability System on them,” said John Gordon, PSAC National President. “Why is Canada Post trying to impose it on a smaller group of PSAC members? “He added.

UPCE-PSAC members recently voted 88% in favour of strike action against Canada Post. It was the strongest strike mandate in their union’s history. The national strike vote took place at membership meetings between October 1 and October 17, 2008.

Canada Post also tabled a meagre wage increase offer of 2.25% per year for each year of a four-year contract. The union maintains that 3% per year for a three-year contract is in line with other settlements that Canada Post has recently negotiated with other unions.

Gordon indicated that the negotiations have broken off, but that the union is ready to return to the bargaining table at any time if Canada Post decides to truly engage in meaningful bargaining.

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OTTAWA - Canada Post workers gave their bargaining team the strongest strike mandate in their union’s history. The workers are members of the Union of Postal and Communications Employees (UPCE), a component of the 165,000 member Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC).

“The membership have stated loud and clear that Canada Post’s “take it or leave it” offer is completely unacceptable,” said Richard Des Lauriers, National President of the Union of Postal and Communications Employees (UPCE), a component of the Public Service Alliance of Canada. “The PSAC bargaining team has invited the employer back to the bargaining table. With this mandate in hand they can provide a strong message to Canada Post to take the concessions off the table and negotiate in good faith.”

PSAC members voted 88% in favour of strike action. The national strike vote took place at membership meetings between October 1 and October 17, 2008.

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Rumours, gossip and myths abound during collective bargaining, especially when the outcomes are uncertain and the stakes are so high. Sometimes employers tend to play fast and loose with the facts. Here are just some of those rumours and myths we’ve been hearing over the past few weeks. And here are the real facts.

1 The union refuses to bargain or respond to the employer’s last offer.

The union has always been prepared to negotiate. In fact, the union added bargaining dates in September. We put a comprehensive offer of settlement on the table that included compromises and realistic wage proposals. Instead of responding to our proposals, the employer tabled an “all or nothing” offer that contained major rollbacks. The union rejected that offer and told the employer why.

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The employer has tabled a proposal to eliminate your current sick leave and family-related leave entitlements. Canada Post is seeking to replace them with a new, corporate short-term disability program. This would represent a large concession and the loss of substantial benefits that we fought hard for in previous rounds of negotiations.

The employer says its program will benefit employees, but at the bargaining table — when your union asked Canada Post how much they would save through this program — the employer was too embarrassed to give us an answer. Clearly, this plan was designed to benefit Canada Post’s bottom line at your expense.

This document will lay out exactly what leave entitlements the employer proposes to roll back. The main differences between the current plan and the employer’s proposed plan are as follows:

• Currently, you are entitled to 20 annual days of paid sick and/or family-related leave, of which 15 days can be rolled over if unused.
  • The new plan would reduce this to seven “personal days.” These days would not roll over, but would be paid out if unused.
• Currently, if you have banked sick leave, you have 100% income protection when on short or longer term sick leave.
  • The proposed plan would provide only a 70% income replacement for extended sick leave and you would be required to apply for Employment Insurance (EI). However, there are some cases where accumulated sick leave could be used as a supplementary top-up.
  • However, note that there would be no more accumulation of sick leave. Currently, after 13 weeks of extended sick leave, you would be put on long-term disability.
  • The new plan would extend this period to 30 weeks.
  • And, if you have no sick leave banked, you would only receive 70% income replacement.

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MONTREAL — Canada Post employees demonstrated in Montreal on Monday in a show of protest against their employer’s latest contract offer. The workers are members of the Union of Postal Communications Employees (UPCE) — a component of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC).

“The employer’s last offer is an insult. We have no choice but to take a strike vote and to move our members towards strike action,” says Richard Des Lauriers, UPCE National President. Des Lauriers was speaking at the demonstration in front of Canada Post’s Montreal plant.

The protest comes in response to a “take it or leave it” offer tabled by Canada Post on August 21. Des Lauriers characterizes the employer’s behaviour as “completely unacceptable” and warned that his members will not be bullied into accepting concessions.

“We are determined to get the best possible deal for our members,” says Des Lauriers, reminding the members that they can count on support from the labour movement and from their fellow workers at Canada Post.

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Bargaining Fair Wages

Currently members receive an automatic economic increase on October 31 and an incremental raise on June 3 until the top of the scale is reached.

The employer is proposing:

• A very small economic increase (between 1% and 2%, depending on classification). This means that the employer views the work of an A1 as less valuable than that of an A5 or A T2
• Your June increment will no longer be automatic - rather, it will be based on your performance appraisal

In 2009, the expected wage increase for the average Canadian worker is 3.5% except in Alberta where the expected increase is 4.8%

Canada Post wants to replace a portion of the anticipated increase with an increase to the Individual Performance Incentive (IPI). However, the IPI is not cumulative and — since your base wage rate would increase more slowly — the amount of the IPI would therefore accumulate much more slowly. In other words, this means a lot less money for you in the future.

This also has serious implications for your pension! The IPI is not pensionable. This would mean that the value of your pension would not increase very much. Over time, your base wage rate and your pension would rise very slowly. This proposal puts your retirement earnings in serious jeopardy.

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Your bargaining team returned to Ottawa this week prepared to resume negotiations with Canada Post with the assistance of a conciliator.

Despite the fact that Canada Post had well over a week to consider the union’s response to its all-or-nothing offer, there was absolutely no movement on the part of the Canada Post’s bargaining team.

Canada Post’s original offer — as communicated to you by your bargaining team on September 2, 2008 — still stands.

That offer was unacceptable then and it is unacceptable now.

Your team remains ready to negotiate, but we are not prepared to bargain away your current entitlements — nor is the team prepared to accept the financial offer tabled by Canada Post.

Your team is now looking to you for your help to send a message to Canada Post.

Over the coming six weeks, team members will be attending local meetings and they will be available to answer any questions that you may have.

Details about these meetings will be posted at your workplace in the near future.

source: Canwest News Service, Tuesday, September 02, 2008

OTTAWA - As the federal government launches into a strategic review of Canada Post, a new poll shows 69 per cent of Canadians oppose allowing private companies to deliver letters in Canada.

Email your MP! Demand public consultations on the future of Canada Post.

The Ipsos Reid poll, commissioned by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, showed 46 per cent of respondents strongly oppose and 23 per cent somewhat oppose private company letter delivery.

At the other end of the spectrum, nine per cent strongly support and 18 per cent somewhat support private-sector competition to the Crown corporation.

“The public is overwhelmingly against postal deregulation and supports a strong universal public postal system,” said Denis Lemelin, the union’s national president.

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Ottawa—Canada Post Corporation has taken an unreasonable approach to bargaining during the late stages of negotiations and employees will take a strike vote over the coming weeks to protect their rights.

The negotiations started in the spring of 2008, and the union says the employer is refusing to address the workers’ demands.

Richard Des Lauriers, national president of Union of Postal Communications employees (UPCE), a component of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) noted “we are disappointed with CPC’s stance regarding negotiations. We have always been prepared to reach a fair agreement with Canada Post, one that ensures a strong and vibrant public postal service.”

The main issues at the bargaining table continue to be: protections against unreasonable measurements and surveillance of individual employees, workload-management issues, a fair benefits package, fair wages and bargaining unit protection. Canada Post has previously negotiated similar settlements with other unions.

The PSAC bargaining team tabled a thoughtful and comprehensive offer of settlement last week, but Canada Post remains reluctant to commit to any proposal of substance.

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Dear member,

We are committed to bargaining fairly and getting you the best deal that we can possibly achieve. To that end, the union tabled a comprehensive offer to settle on August 21, 2008. The employer then responded to us on August 27, 2008.

In tabling their response, CPC took an all or nothing approach. In fact they wrote: “no single item or group of items may be considered separately from the rest.” In other words, a package deal, take it or leave it.

Your team was clear - this offer is unacceptable. Despite our best efforts to take a reasonable approach to bargaining, it is further evidence that our proposals were not being taken seriously and, more importantly, that there was no recognition or respect shown for the contributions that you have made over the years.

The team has taken it as far as we could – so now it’s up to you.

Visit the national website for a detailed summary of the most recent offers tabled by your union and by the employer. The table reflects the parties’ positions as of August 29, 2008 and is organized by theme.

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