AT THE PLANT:

MSC:

1 MSC on October 9 to pick up monos at the plant and deliver to airport. Start at 7:00 AM.

1 MSC on October 10 to pick up cheques at airport Start at 7:00 AM.

1 MSC to shuttle the cheques to the depots at 7 am.

P04:

P04s on October 14 7 P04s (5 in DCF, 2 in City Finals) 8:00AM - NOON.

P05:

1 P05 on October 15 to dispatch to North Batt at 17:00

3 P05s on October 16 to dispatch to all other Highway Services - 2 P05s 1am-4am and 1 P05 4am-7am

DELIVERY ON OCTOBER 17: (Each depot may need minimal numbers a few day later for missorts)

All LCs and RSMCs to start at 10:00am

Depot 1 (East): 20 LCs and 10 RSMCs

Depot 2 (West): 6 LCs and 5 RSMCs

Main Depot: 9 LCs, 5 RSMCs (RR), and 4 RSMCs (SS)

Retail: 1 P04 8am-NOON

Last year, we had a lot of questions about the cheque delivery. To help you decide if you want to volunteer, we have put together this Q&A. There are three sections: Letter Carriers and RSMCs, MSCs, and Plant workers. Please see the appropriate section for details.

Letter Carriers and RSMCs

Q: What time do I show up at the depot? What day(s)?

A: 10:00 AM. Delivery will be on the 17th, and maybe a few days later for missorts.

Q: How many cheques will I have to deliver?

A: Around 60.

Q: Will I be delivering my own route?

A: Not necessarily. RSMCs please note that this month you may not be delivering your own route.

Q: Can I wear CPC uniform? (For LCs: Will I be driving corporate vehicle?)

A: Yes.

Q: What is the pay?

A: CPC will pay $50 honorarium. For RSMCs, they will also pay mileage.

Q: Who pays me?

A: Canada Post pays the honorarium and mileage. The Union does not pay this. It will come on the regular pay period schedule.

Q: Can I still get picket pay?

A: Yes, but you have to put a total of four hours in. If delivery takes you two hours, you must picket for two hours to be eligible for picket pay. You must sign in and sign out on official picket duty sheets to be eligbile.

Q: What happens if I get hurt while delivering? Am I covered by WCB?

A: Yes. Canada Post pays the $50 which is the minimum payment for an employee to be covered by WCB.

Q: Isn’t this considered crossing the picket line?

A: NO. This is a service that the Union has always volunteered to do. National consults on each month’s delivery.

MSC:

Q: What times do they need MSC drivers for, and what dates?

A: On October 9, they will need 1 MSC driver at 7 am to drop monos off at the airport. On the 10th, they will need 1 MSC driver at 7 am to pick them up and bring them to the plant.

On Oct 16, they will need 1 MSC to shuttle the cheques to the depots.

Q: Can I wear CPC uniform? Will I be driving corporate vehicle?

A: Yes.

Q: What is the pay?

A: CPC will pay $50 honorarium.

Q: Who pays me?

A: Canada Post pays the honorarium and mileage. The Union does not pay this. It will come on the regular pay period schedule.

Q: Can I still get picket pay?

A: Yes, but you have to put a total of four hours in. If delivery takes you two hours, you must picket for two hours to be eligible for picket pay. You must sign in and sign out on official picket duty sheets to be eligbile.

Q: What happens if I get hurt while delivering? Am I covered by WCB?

A: Yes. Canada Post pays the $50 which is the minimum payment for an employee to be covered by WCB.

Q: Isn’t this considered crossing the picket line?

A: NO. This is a service that the Union has always volunteered to do. National consults on each month’s delivery.

Plant workers:

Q: What times do they need workers for? What dates?

A: They need workers on the 14th. They will need 5 P04s for DCF, and 2 P04s for City Finals. All will work 8am-NOON.

Q: What is the pay?

A: CPC will pay $50 honorarium.

Q: Who pays me?

A: Canada Post pays the honorarium. The Union does not pay this. It will come on the regular pay period schedule.

Q: Can I still get picket pay?

A: Yes, but you have to put a total of four hours in. If sorting takes you two hours, you must picket for two hours to be eligible for picket pay. You must sign in and sign out on official picket duty sheets to be eligbile.

Q: What happens if I get hurt while sorting? Am I covered by WCB?

A: Yes. Canada Post pays the $50 which is the minimum payment for an employee to be covered by WCB.

Q: Isn’t this considered crossing the picket line?

A: NO. This is a service that the Union has always volunteered to do. National consults on each month’s delivery.

SORTING IN PLANT: DECEMBER 10-12 at 8:00 am

1 MSC on December 10

5 P04s on December 10, 1 of which needs to be City Finals

1 P05 on December 11

2 P05s on December 12

DELIVERY - DECEMBER 18: (Each depot may need minimal numbers for December 19 for missorts)

Depot 1 (East): 20 Letter Carriers, 3 RSMCs

Depot 2 (West): 16 Letter Carriers, 2 RSMCs

Depot 4 (North): 11 RSMCs

Main Depot: 9 Letter Carriers, 5 RSMCs

CRO: 2 P04s

Last time, we had a lot of questions about the cheque delivery. To help you decide if you want to volunteer, we have put together this Q&A. There are three sections: Letter Carriers and RSMCs, MSCs, and Plant workers. Please see the appropriate section for details.

Letter Carriers and RSMCs

Q: What time do I show up at the depot? What day(s)?

A: 9:00 AM. Delivery will be on the 18th, and maybe the 19th for missorts.

Q: How many cheques will I have to deliver?

A: Around 60.

Q: Will I be delivering my own route?

A: Not necessarily. RSMCs please note that this month you may not be delivering your own route. Areas have been split up so that each one has around 60 cheques.

Q: Can I wear CPC uniform? (For LCs: Will I be driving corporate vehicle?)

A: Yes.

Q: What is the pay?

A: CPC will pay $50 honorarium. For RSMCs, they will also pay mileage.

Q: Who pays me?

A: Canada Post pays the honorarium and mileage. The Union does not pay this. It will come on the regular pay period schedule.

Q: Can I still get picket pay?

A: Yes, but you have to put a total of four hours in. If delivery takes you two hours, you must picket for two hours to be eligible for picket pay. You must sign in and sign out on official picket duty sheets to be eligbile.

Q: What happens if I get hurt while delivering? Am I covered by WCB?

A: Yes. Canada Post pays the $50 which is the minimum payment for an employee to be covered by WCB.

Q: Isn’t this considered crossing the picket line?

A: NO. This is a service that the Union has always volunteered to do. National consults on each month’s delivery.

MSC:

Q: What times do they need MSC drivers for, and what dates?

A: December 10, they will need one MSC driver to pick up the mail and deliver it to the plant. Plane arrives at 8:20. MSC work time to be determined. (Most likely starting at 8:00 am)

December 12, they will need one MSC to deliver the cheques to the depots. They haven’t told us a time yet. We will find out.

Q: Can I wear CPC uniform? Will I be driving corporate vehicle?

A: Yes.

Q: What is the pay?

A: CPC will pay $50 honorarium.

Q: Who pays me?

A: Canada Post pays the honorarium and mileage. The Union does not pay this. It will come on the regular pay period schedule.

Q: Can I still get picket pay?

A: Yes, but you have to put a total of four hours in. If delivery takes you two hours, you must picket for two hours to be eligible for picket pay. You must sign in and sign out on official picket duty sheets to be eligbile.

Q: What happens if I get hurt while delivering? Am I covered by WCB?

A: Yes. Canada Post pays the $50 which is the minimum payment for an employee to be covered by WCB.

Q: Isn’t this considered crossing the picket line?

A: NO. This is a service that the Union has always volunteered to do. National consults on each month’s delivery.

Plant workers:

Q: What times do they need workers for? What dates?

A: December 10, from 11 am to 3 pm. They need five P04s, one of which in city finals. They may need one P04 on the 11th if it doesn’t all get done.

On December 10, they will need 1 P05 at 5:30 for despatch.

December 11, they will need one or two P05s for despatch from 2:00 am to 7:30 am. This could be one person for the whole time, or split in to two different shifts (ie 2-4:30, 4:30-7) and have two people.

Q: What is the pay?

A: CPC will pay $50 honorarium.

Q: Who pays me?

A: Canada Post pays the honorarium. The Union does not pay this. It will come on the regular pay period schedule.

Q: Can I still get picket pay?

A: Yes, but you have to put a total of four hours in. If sorting takes you two hours, you must picket for two hours to be eligible for picket pay. You must sign in and sign out on official picket duty sheets to be eligbile.

Q: What happens if I get hurt while sorting? Am I covered by WCB?

A: Yes. Canada Post pays the $50 which is the minimum payment for an employee to be covered by WCB.

Q: Isn’t this considered crossing the picket line?

A: NO. This is a service that the Union has always volunteered to do. National consults on each month’s delivery.

URBAN:

Mgmt will let us know how many carriers are required. We will then let the carriers know.

Mgmt will choose the areas. YOU MAY NOT BE ON YOUR OWN ROUTE.

Pay: $50 flat rate

RSMC:

You deliver the cheques on your own route. MAKE SURE to write down ACTUAL mileage. Give supe mileage at end of delivery.

Pay: $50 flat rate plus mileage for ACTUAL km (not necessarily the km on the schedule A)

BOTH:

You must sign in at table before entering depot and get a picket pass.

Delivery time counts towards picket time.

You still need a total of four hours to qualify for picket pay. If your delivery is 1.5 hrs, you need to picket for 2.5 hrs afterwards to qualify for pay for that day.

As you know, the Union has issued a 72-hour strike notice, set to take effect at the earliest on Thursday night at 11 pm. Canada Post responded with their own lockout notice just hours later, effective Friday at 7 am at the earliest. However, both parties have expressed commitment to negotiating a resolution at the table and have indicated they do not intend to use these measures if a fair agreement can be reached.

Yet, we must be prepared in case action is taken.

In a recent national broadcast, Canada Post spokesperson Jon Hamilton confirmed that the lockout notice was intended solely to enforce potential new working conditions outlined by Canada Post on November 12th. This threat to the current terms of our collective agreement is a reaction to the possibility of rotating strikes, which remain a potential union strategy.

Many of our members who have experienced past work stoppages recognize this tactic. It is designed to apply pressure and discourage rotating strikes, yet it’s worth noting that not all threatened conditions typically come to pass. This is only relevant during rotating strikes, as we are still being paid to work while our members elsewhere engage in strike action on a rotating basis.

If Canada Post proceeds, the bare minimum conditions they can enforce fall under the Canada Labour Code, which still protects essential rights such as sick leave, personal leave, and the 8-hour workday, among others.

Be cautious of any rumors or misinformation circulated by Canada Post Management. They have already made claims that haven’t materialized. For accurate, real-time updates, rely on our text tree, which is our official channel for any strike-related communication. This will be our primary (and official) way of sharing updates, supplemented by information on our Facebook page, website, and other channels. If you haven’t signed up for the Text Tree, please do so now to stay informed.

Unless there’s an unexpected lockout that requires us to form a picket line immediately, you will be notified of any Strike action through the text tree. Continue to report to work as usual unless instructed otherwise. When a picket line is in place, never cross it. Always report to your picket captain, who will monitor attendance and picket activity.

There is no need to worry about these potential changes until they become reality. We are monitoring the situation closely and will keep you updated as things evolve. And remember, the picket line isn’t something to fear. It’s a place of unity, camaraderie, and support. We’re here to ensure it’s a positive and energized environment.

We are all in this together. Local 824 stands firmly behind each of you, ready to support any member for any reason. With solidarity and determination, we can succeed in our fight for fair wages, benefits, and working conditions — with no rollbacks for current members and no new substandard conditions for future employees.

Sincerely, and in solidarity,

Your Local 824 Executive Committee

Locally, we had 96% for the Urban, and 81% for the RSMCs. Our turnout was up from previous votes, but still it could be better. We had 32.2 % of the Urban members show up to vote, and 34.9% of the RSMC members voted. While it was great to get such a strong yes vote, having over 50% show up would have been even better.

That being said, our cooling off period is almost over. There could be job action as early as November 3rd, which is this coming Sunday. If you haven’t filled out the form to be added to the text tree, do it as soon as you can. This will be the main way we will be informing members if our local is on strike. We have not heard from National if they will be employing rotating strikes again, but if they do, communication will by key.

The education seminar that was planned for the middle of November looks like it will be postponed because of possible job action. We will inform members of any updates as we receive them.

The strike committee should be meeting this week to finalize any plans. If you want to join the committee, call the union hall as soon as possible. 306-653-4143, or email union@cupw824.com.

If you have any restrictions that might prevent you from physically walking the picket line, we have various jobs that need to be done during job action that can be done at the union hall. Call the union hall or talk to a shop steward.

Make sure you have enough medication to last a few months in case of a lengthy picket. There is information at the union hall about strike readiness. Several people took the recent course. If you know one of them, have a chat. If you are one of them, talk to the work floor about what you learned.

The Strike/Lockout time is right around the corner. I hope everyone is ready for it, and ready to fight for our rights. Canada Post’s continuing trend of offering a two-tier collective agreement is unacceptable. SSD is unacceptable. Ignoring health and safety is unacceptable. We need to fight for fair wages and benefits for ALL employees, an end to SSD, and a commitment for REAL action on health and safety issues.

An injury to one is an injury to all.

The struggle continues…

We also need volunteers for the strike committee. Strikes and lockouts are more than just signing in to a picket line. They require a lot of prep beforehand to make sure things run smoothly. Everything needs to be in place, even mundane things like porta-potties and burning barrel permits.

Members should be preparing for the possibility of lost income. You should be saving some money so you can pay bills, etc in the event of job action. Talk to your doctor and ask about getting your prescriptions in advance, if that’s possible. You will receive strike pay if you walk the line, but it will be much less than your regular pay.

Speaking of strike pay, if you have participated in job action in the past, you will notice a difference in strike pay this time around. Previously, you had to “work” (picket) for five days in a week to earn $200 in strike pay. So, if you picketed only one day, you got no pay. This was changed at the last National Convention. Going forward, if you picket for one day, you will get paid. According to Article 7.24 of the National Constitution:

Members who participate in strike actions shall be paid a daily rate of 200 percent of the highest hourly rate of the lowest classification in the Urban Operations Collective Agreement for each day they participate, up to a maximum of five days per week.

This means if you picket for at least four hours in a day, you will be eligible to receive $56.20 for that day. Strike pay will be paid at the beginning of the following week. Please note, that a “week” refers to a 7-day period, which starts on the day of the week that the first day of the strike is. For example, if the Strike starts on a Wednesday, a week would be defined as Wednesday - Tuesday.

In order to receive strike pay, you must be a member in good standing, meaning you are caught up in your dues. You must have signed a Union card, and paid the $5.00 membership fee. If you are not sure what your status is, please contact the Secretary-Treasurer ASAP at sectreas@cupw824.com.

First, the Employer wants all workers who are not in the Pension Plan currently to work 2,000 hours as a regular employee before being eligible for the group benefits and pension plans. Canada Post stated that any current temporary hours would not apply toward the 2000 hours.

Second, after you have worked as a Temporary or OCRE for years, then worked another year or two as a part-timer with no benefits, the Employer wants all new Pension Plan members to move to a Defined Contribution instead of the Defined Benefits method current CUPW members are entitled to. Canada Post also wants to cut the amount of their contribution for new members in half.

Defined Contribution (DC) plans are no substitute for Defined Benefit plans. Under a DC plan, workers are not guaranteed a secure pension income amount for retirement; instead, workers’ retirement income depends on the state of their contributions, investments, interest rates and the stock markets. Under a DC plan, the risk for funding retirement shifts from the Employer entirely to the worker.

The Current Pension Plan is Healthy

The Employer justified its attack on Defined Benefit by pointing to the Pension Plan’s solvency deficit that existed 3 years ago, but a deficit does not exist today. In the Pension Plan “Solvency” refers to the amount the Plan would owe to members if the Plan were to wind up (cease to exist) immediately. At the end of 2022 the solvency test showed a $2.48 Billion surplus in the Plan.

When a Pension Plan faces a solvency deficit, by law, the employer must make special payments to make up for the shortfall. However, the Government of Canada started giving Canada Post a “temporary” relief from these special payments in 2011 and after multiple extensions the “temporary” relief continues until the end of 2024 or the next extension.

The Union has long argued that the “solvency” test is not the best way to judge the Canada Post Pension Plan. The Union believes the Pension Plan should be permanently exempt from the solvency test and special payments.

In the past, Canada Post has joined the Union in appealing to the Government for such an exemption, but now the Employer is using the flawed solvency test to go on the attack against newer workers and the plan.

Going Concern Surplus

Based on the Going-Concern test, meaning the Plan will continue in its current form for the foreseeable future, the Pension Plan had a $6.5 billion surplus at year-end 2022. As Canada Post admitted in its message on the Pension Plan’s 2022 year-end results, based on this going-concern valuation, “the DB component of the Plan continues to have more than enough assets to meet its obligations to Plan members over the long term.”

Since May 2023, current members of the Plan have been making their contributions to the Pension Plan, but, because of the surplus position of the Plan, Canada Post has automatically not been required to match your contribution; so, they have not paid any regular payments in almost a year and have been relieved by the government from making most of the special payments required by law.

Putting an end to future workers’ contributions to the defined benefit plan will undermine the Going Concern test. This puts everyone’s pensions at risk, not just new employees on a defined contribution plan.

We have blocked the Employer’s efforts to create a two-tier pension system in the past. Again, we need to make sure the Employer hears us loud and clear: Say NO to two-tier pensions!

2023-2027/086

No 14

Over the past few years, the cost of living has skyrocketed and inflation has hit 40-year highs. The price of our most basic needs – groceries, housing, fuel – have seen the biggest jumps. As workers struggle to live paycheque to paycheque, executives, banks and the rest of the 1% get richer.

Workers did not cause the runaway inflation we’ve dealt with, so workers should not be forced to fix it. It is not on us to sacrifice our living standards in the name of market competitiveness or profit. As is usual at bargaining time, Canada Post is crying poor. But they are not alone in dealing with rising costs and worrying about the future; while we have had some Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) protection, hourly rates and our best years for our pensions have fallen far behind, and we need to be made whole.

Significant Wage Increases

The Negotiators sent a loud message to Canada Post last week about our demand to make up for all the wages & buying power we have lost since 2021. Our wages need to keep up with inflation. Both Urban and RSMC committees demanded a 12.65% increase in the first year, and 4.5% in the second. Because we have not yet decided on the length of the collective agreement, we only made demands for two years. We will present further wage demands once we know more about the length of the agreement.

Closing the Pay Gap

The two-tier wage system in the Urban Unit came about after the Conservative government illegally stripped us of our right to strike in 2011. The starting wage for new hires and temporary workers is far too low. With fewer or no guaranteed income or hours, newer workers simply cannot get by on the low wages Canada Post pays. Canada Post’s low wage strategy is not acceptable.

We cannot let this group of workers be a “competitive advantage.” Our demand is to remove the lowest two (2) increments in the Urban wage charts and raise the starting rate up from 75% to 85% of the top rate.

This would bring the Urban wage charts level with the RSMC wage chart. For the RSMC Unit, we demanded the OCREs be able to move up the pay scale in the same way that Urban temporary workers can.

RSMC Hourly Rate

We have been clear with the Employer throughout this round of bargaining: RSMCs need to move to an hourly rate and be compensated at an appropriate rate like Urban members.

Groups 3 and 4 Wage Adjustment

For Groups 3 and 4, our demand is for a $1.50 trades market adjustment for all classifications to take effect before the first-year general wage increase percentage is applied to the hourly rate.

Our Turn

Across this country, unions are winning bigger wage gains than we’ve seen in decades, but getting the raises we deserve won’t come easy. We will need to be organized and dedicated. We need to keep doing the work to build our collective power. The negotiators need your help and voices on every work floor telling the boss these are your demands. Get active, stay informed, and stay united!

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

Permalink

]]>Cost of Living CrisisCUPW SaskatoonThu, 28 Mar 2024 04:58:50 +0000https://www.cupw824.com/824-blog/main-depot-volume-count5fcbba2d2842004a669d9c8c:650fa54f9c544f0ec6023202:6604f6f4ac7c5d39f388bc6bThe Main Depot volume count will begin on April 22 and last for two weeks until May 3. In order to prepare, LCs at the Main please do the following:

• Mark all of your vacancies in the PROCUR app, it will determine what your percentage of coverage is and the more vacancies you have, the higher your percentage of coverage will be: more vacancies = shorter routes built.

• Check how much time you are given to perform your pick-ups, clearances, and RPO drops on the 108 crystal report (CPUs) or the 103 crystal report (RPOs) - ask your supervisor or email communications@cupw824.com to get a copy of the report. Time yourself doing the CPU or RPO and if you feel that you need more time than what you are allocated, submit a request to your supervisor to have it retimed.

• Check your Edit Book (if you still have one), an 038 report, or the PROCUR app to ensure that each POC has the needed distance on foot, stairs, doors, panels, and MM stops if applicable.

• Fill in a hazard card for any hazards or concerns that a relief carrier would need to be aware of, and get your supervisor to endorse it.

• Please fill out our Restructure Prep Phase Survey (letter size paper).

• Request a copy of your route kit and review it.