Canada Post has notified the union that they will pay out the Corporate Team Incentive (CTI) for 2007 on April 17, 2008 – at 63% of 3% of certain members’ salary.  Temporary workers and RSMCs do not get the CTI.

It works out to a little under a $900 lump sum payment, well bellow their predicted “$1,200 – $1,500”. That’s because they didn’t meet all their performance targets. Of course they can change performance targets willy-nilly. And they have for 2008. Heck, they even changed the name from “CTI to “The Bonus” even though the collective agreement refers to it as the CTI. Whatever they want to call it, it was actually the profits at Purolator that helped make the CTI payment possible.

A distraction from bigger issues

No one minds a bit of extra cash in their pockets, but unlike a salary increase or other benefits, you’ll be back to your usual pay checks immediately after you cash your CTI check. You’ll also be back to things a CTI can never fix. Things like hiring issues in Alberta, injuries, forced overtime, over-assessed routes, harassment, human rights violations, improper staffing and the employer’s continued poor treatment of RSMCs.

The big problem with the CTI is that it could start to encourage bad behaviour because of the targets for absenteeism and accident frequency. It could, but so far it hasn’t. Absenteeism was up this  year from 16.9 to 17.6 days and injuries are as bad as ever, so it doesn’t look like CUPW members are coming to work sick or failing to report accidents. And there have been plenty of job actions this year.

QWL – Always a shady deal

Canada Post pitched the CTI as a “workers benefit when the corporation benefits” kind of initiative yet the CTI doesn’t solve any workplace issues.

In the end, it shows Canada Post’s CTI is just an attempt to buy some good will instead of investing in substantive improvements and living up to the collective agreement. It seems that postal workers can spot a shady deal when they see one.

Just in case there is any question about what Canada Post is up to with the CTI and other employer programs, have a look at the DVD the Union sent to all members’ homes in early January 2008.  You’ll learn everything you ever wanted to know about Quality of Worklife Programs but were afraid to ask.