The National Executive Board (NEB) has confirmed my appointment as chief negotiator for the upcoming round of urban unit negotiations.

It’s all connected

Whether it’s about the Modern Post, attacks on the work floor, consolidation of postal operations or the fight against Bill C-9 (remailers = privatization), it’s all connected.  We’re facing a concerted attack by Canada Post on our acquired rights and our jobs.  We’re fighting back and will continue to do so.

We’re ready

We’ve faced many challenges since the last Convention.  With our response to the Strategic Review, we succeeded in blocking postal deregulation.  We’re continuing to organize postal sector workers.  We’ve filed an application for a review of the bargaining units at Canada Post.  And we’re now negotiating technological changes.  So we’re fighting back on all fronts.  We’re doing it because our vision of the postal service, which is a fair one, must win out.

A packed schedule

In the past few weeks, CUPW locals have held meetings to adopt their demands for the next round of negotiations.  These demands will be debated at the Regional Conferences in late June.  During the rest of the summer, the NEB will put together our program of demands and submit it to the membership for ratification next September.  During the coming weeks, the NEB will also be appointing the other members of the Negotiating Committee.

Let’s stick together

In a sense, negotiations are already underway.  That’s because negotiating is all about bargaining power, something that has to be built on a daily basis, and for every struggle.  Negotiating is a collective endeavor, so let’s all get involved and stick together.