On the afternoon of December 30th, CUPW received a very unwelcome message from Canada Post. Canada Post informed the Union that all monotainer repair work will be contracted-out again. Twenty-five full-time jobs will be lost in Montreal, Toronto and Winnipeg.

That's just CPC's way of saying Happy New Year to members working in Technical Services.

Under Appendix T of the Urban Operations collective agreement, this work was contracted in successfully in both Toronto and Winnipeg. The Appendix T Committee invested 2 million dollars in contracting-in monotainer repair first in Toronto in 1997 then in Winnipeg in 2000. This money was invested in salaries, training, equipment and fit-up. These projects were so successful that CPC unilaterally brought the work in-house in Montreal. Now, Canada Post wants to contract out the work to Ateliers BDG located in Laurierville, Quebec.

CUPW totally rejects this proposal. There are many good reasons to keep this work in-house.

1.We don't need more surplus GLTs! If CPC contracts out this work, good paying jobs will be lost in Canada Post and job opportunities for GLTs will further diminish.

2.The contractor is more expensive! According to the financial analysis provided to the Union by CPC, contracting out the maintenance work on monotainers will cost more than CPC saves.

3.Location, location, location! The contractor is located in Laurierville, Quebec, two hours away from any major city. This means monotainers will have to be transported from all parts of the country, creating more delays, more damage, and requiring CPC to have more monotainers than necessary.

4.CPC has not complied with the collective agreement! CPC has not provided sufficient information and is in violation of Appendix T and other applicable provisions of the Urban Operations collective agreement.

5.Something smells! Contracting out work to private contractors can be a pretty sleazy process. Canada Post has a terrible record concerning sweetheart deals with friendly companies. Ask any driver who has worked for an Urban Expedited Contractor delivering parcels for Canada Post. Ask former President Andre Ouellet about the contracts CPC was involved in as part of the sponsorship scandal. The audit by Deloitte & Touche found that the Corporation failed to comply with its own procurement policies in 355 of the 599 cases that were reviewed. We demand to know all of the details about the BDG deal!


UNION'S RESPONSE

CUPW has demanded that the issue be addressed at the Appendix T Steering Committee rather than at regular consultation and has called in the Appendix T independent advisor. We've also filed a national policy grievance. CUPW and Canada Post Corporation put a lot of effort into contracting-in the monotainer repair. We made it work and we're not about to just let it go. The operation provided decent jobs. Now CPC wants to contract this work out to a low wage, high cost contractor and violate our collective agreement in the process. Happy New Year from Canada Post!