It has been a slow week at negotiations but there has been some movement. On the important issue of barcharts there has been some positive discussions and there appears to be some movement on the part of Canada Post. Fixing the barcharts will reduce the need for overtime, especially forcebacks.

The Modern Post in Montreal

One of the highlights of the week was the presentation made to Canada Post management by Brother Paul Vincelette of the Montreal local. Brother Vincelette has meticulously documented the impact of the introduction of the Modern Post at the Monterey Depot. His research reveals a dramatic increase in injuries, sick leave and overtime since the introduction of mechanized letter sequencing. The response of senior management was very disappointing. They stated that a lot of the issues raised should be dealt with at the local level. Brother Vincelette pointed out that local management always says that the problems have to be resolved at the national level.

COLA & CTI

The parties discussed the formula required to achieve the union’s demand for a comprehensive cost of living allowance (COLA). Other issues discussed also included the Corporate team Allowance (CTI), the short term disability plan and the surplus in the disability insurance fund.

Rotation of Duties, Service Expansion & Protection from Contracting Out

There has been no response at all from management on the Union’s demands. Nothing on proper rotation of duties, protection against contracting out, contracting in new work or providing new services to name only a few.

Management Clarification Does Not End Manulife Harassment

Management’s clarification on their proposed short term disability plan, states that CUPW members “are not going to lose their bank of sick leave credits”. However, what they are still not telling you is that under management’s scheme CUPW members will not be able to use any portion of their sick leave credits for absences of five days or less and will receive no pay for these absences once their personal days have been used up.

Their “clarification” also claims that Manulife initially only denies one out of every twenty sick leave claims under the short term disability plan. Of course they are on their best behaviour while CPC is trying to convince us to allow Manulife to be the decision-maker when it comes to receiving pay under the short term disability plan. That is why our demands focus on putting an end to the harassment; and prevent Manulife from intruding on our privacy!

It’s time to put an end to the harassment instead of giving Manulife more power over our lives.