UPDATE

On July 24, the Union expressed its concern to the Corporation that, in determining the new seniority, it had not factored in the time worked in other bargaining units where employees had accumulated continuous service. This omission seriously affects members since, in so doing, the Corporation is granting more seniority to employees who are not entitled to it.  According to the new rules, seniority is based on the first date of hire within the bargaining unit, taking into to account the seniority rules set out in previous collective agreements. As a result, employees have had seniority added for periods for which they were not eligible.

On January 8, 2008, the Union filed grievance (N00-07-00003), in which it requests that the Corporation be ordered to take the necessary steps to rectify the situation immediately and to restore rights of the affected employees.

If you believe your rights have been adversely affected because of improper application of your seniority, please contact your union representative and file a grievance immediately in each case.

RANDOM NUMBER

In a bulletin (# 20.2004) issued on September 28, 2004, the Corporation announced a new method for breaking ties in seniority. This method consisted in assigning a random nine-digit number to regular and temporary employees, and specified that seniority for regular employees and seniority for temporary employees were not the same thing. The aim of this new tie-breaking method was to avoid having to continually determine a new ranking for employees when they joined or left a post office. 

The employee was to keep this (random) ranking number for the duration of his or her employment within the CUPW bargaining unit, except for temporary employees, who, when they became regular employees, would get a new random number based on their (temporary) local ranking.

However, following the application of these new seniority rules, many members noticed that their ranking had changed. We investigated this and identified several problems in applying the employer’s September 2004 directive. For example, in one region, the random number changed every time the employee’s job classification changed.  In another region, the employer would add a digit to the random number to identify a job classification, which would skew the employee’s ranking.  There was also the fact that temporary employees would be assigned a new random number whenever they became regular employees. As a result, with today’s new seniority rules being based on continuous service, employees whose ranking was higher than someone else’s could lose ranking on the seniority list.

As you might imagine, there is no single solution that can be applied quickly to everyone. On February 6, 2008, we met with the employer to discuss the problem. We suggested reverting to the original random number assigned to the temporary employees. The employer has agreed to carry out a few tests to assess the feasibility of our proposal. We also suggested to the Corporation that it let the Union, at the local level, and working with the regional office, meet with local management to determine a new ranking on the seniority lists, based on the previous seniority lists (2004) or by other means.

CHRISTMAS PERIOD

If you worked as a casual or temporary worker over the Christmas period and, after this period, carried out other duties within the bargaining unit over a period not exceeding nine and a half (9.5) months after the end of the Christmas period, your seniority within the bargaining unit is considered to be retroactive to your last date of hire as a casual or temporary worker for the Christmas period.

If you believe this to be your situation, contact your union representative immediately.