News
Dues Waiver Policy
PROCESS AND DOCUMENTATION REQUIRED
UPDATE:FEBRUARY 2010
Dear Brothers and Sisters-
When applying for a dues waiver please keep in mind the following- Dues are waived only in months where you do not receive any pay from CPC. The criteria set by the Hamilton Local’s membership requires that you receive 70% or less of your pay to qualify for a dues waiver. Members who receive payments from WSIB equal to their regular rate of pay have an obligation to pay (or pay back) their (waived) dues.
The dues waiver form is available on this website. Please fill it out as completely as possible, and send it to the attention of the Secretary/Treasurer prior to the start of your leave. As this is not always possible, please attempt to send in the dues waiver form as soon as you can.
You will be asked to provide supporting documentation, in addition to the dues waiver form. Supporting documentation can be in the form of SAP records (obtainable from your immediate supervisor-the supervisor is REQUIRED to provide you with this information.); leave forms signed off by the supervisor; proof of Sunlife benefits starting/stopping; and in the case of RSMCs -RSMC vouchers. This is not a complete list, as individual circumstances may vary. As soon as I receive the dues waiver form, I will be contacting you to discuss which documentation is needed.
The Local tries to expedite the processing of dues waivers. We recognize that members experience financial hardship due to illness, injury or other circumstances. Submitting forms and documentation in a timely manner ensures that your waivers can be processed as quickly as possible.
Thank You
Sophie Kruk
Secretary/Treasurer
Local 548
GMM
Feb 15, 2010
General Membership Meeting
Saturday Feb 27th, 2010
6:30 pm
Location:
WORKERS ARTS & HERITAGE CENTRE
51 Stuart St West.
Hamilton, Ont
On street parking available
A) Opening Ceremonies
B) Reading of Previous Minutes
C) Correspondence - Dues Waivers
D) Reports of Officers/Committees/Delegates
E) Bills and Accounts
F) Nominations & Elections
1 vacancy on Education Committee/
3 Day Spring Educational
G) Unfinished Business
H) Good and Welfare
I) New Business
J) Adjournment
In Solidarity,
Local Executive 548
Grievance information form.
A new form has been added to the website.
Ken Heydrich
2nd Vice President
Force backs again & again
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
On January 11th 2010, Canada Post informed the Hamilton Local at consultation that a National direction is in place in which the Corporation will force back letter carriers, instead using Term employees.
Although provisions are in the contract to allow the corporation to force back, this is meant to be use in extreme situations.
The corporation has the responsibility to mitigate overtime & ensure our safety. Forcing letter carriers back after they have already performed their own work, and often their own overtime causes further hardship, if not life disruption.
What is the purpose to work overtime, only to have your compensatory time denied when you apply for it?
This complete disregard for our safety & the contract, it will be interesting to see where the corporation ranks in the top 100 employers.
On November 27th 2009 & again on December 11th 2009, Hamilton and Burlington management did force back letter carriers.
The Force Backs continue on:
January 15th 2010 (depot 1 & 2)
February 5th 2010 (depot 4)
February 25th 2010 (Hamilton West, depot 2)
The local is establishing lists of temporary employees who were not working to submit their names as part of four grievances that were filed.
If you are a temporary letter carrier, RSMC or a Clerk that was willing to work performing letter carrier functions, please contact me at heydrich_2ndvice@bellnet.ca
Please include in your email:
Your name:
Your ID:
What call in list you reside on?
Your work location:
If you have been forced back, or know of the employer forcing back, please contact the local office.
Regards,
Ken Heydrich
2nd Vice President
CUPW Hamilton 548
905.573.8700 ext: 29
February 6th 2010.
President’s Message December 2009
The Hamilton Local had monthly consultation with Management on December 7, 2009. Here were some of the main issues:
The Local pointed out a number of contractual violations in management’s Disability Management Process recently presented in Ottawa to the Union. Management, along with Manulife, is still failing to advise members of their right to have Union representation throughout the process. Management is also trying to mislead members regarding communications with Manulife and their right to certified sick time. You do not have to speak with Manulife under any circumstance. Regardless of what Manulife says, you have the right to certified sick time. Please contact the Union office if you run into problems.
The Local took issue with the lack of information being provided on the Area/Automated Volume Index (AMVI) now being used by Canada Post. This new index replaced the Depot Mail Volume Index (MVI) the Union fought so long to achieve. Management has been unwilling to provide the information the Local has requested on the AMVI. The Local believes that the new AMVI is seriously flawed and not accurately capturing mail volumes. This can have a negative affect on letter carrier restructures, and in particular, the restructure currently going on at Hamilton LCD 1.
The parties consulted on annual leave for 2010/2011 for Collection & Delivery in the Hamilton and Oakville Post Offices, Retail, and the Hamilton Mail Processing Plant (HMPP). The picking of vacation should now be underway. The employer agreed to let PO 4’s at the HMPP pick in the section they ended up in as a result of the shift bid. This will avoid the overlap and confusion from last year.
Management has decided to stop providing a Saturday operation to the public on the Retail counter at the Meadowlands in Ancaster because of lower revenues compared to the weekdays. The Local voiced its opposition to closing Saturday because the business will simply be taken by the Shoppers Drug Mart postal outlet nearby.
The Local has received reports from members at the Burlington Main and LCD 1 in Hamilton that Management has informed the letter carriers they will be going to force backs before using temporary employees when required. The Union sees this as a violation of Article 15.14. Ironically, temporary members have been contacting the office because they are not getting any work. This is clearly an inflammatory gesture by Management to antagonize the membership going into negotiations. Please file a grievance as soon as this happens.
The Union has sent the WSIB Net Average Earnings arbitration decision to the courts to ensure compliance. Canada Post has been slow in awarding monies owed to the membership as a result of the decision. The Local recently won a regular arbitration regarding a letter carriers right to know what portions of parcel work they may be covering when overtime gets to them in Transportation. Conversely the Local lost a regular arbitration on penalizing Canada post for notifying clerks for overtime within an hour. The arbitrator was only willing to direct Management not to charge an opportunity.
In a year that has seen break neck change at the Post Office it is important that we all take time out with friends and family to celebrate the holiday season. I would like to thank my fellow executive officers and the Regional and National Union Representatives for all their hard work in a very difficult year. I would also like to thank the membership for their extraordinary efforts in standing up to Management. And just a reminder, please take the time to show support for the RSMC’s who are currently in negotiations with Canada Post. The struggle continues.
In solidarity,
Mark Platt, President
The Activist September 2009
this months articles are:
- President’s Message by Mark Platt
- The No A**hole Rule review by Adam Kieswetter
- Satan’s Cesspool Strategy by Adam Kieswetter
- Full Moon Fever by Joette Waddell
- New Postal Service Charter by Robin Evans
- Discontent on the work-floor by Joette Waddell
read September’s newsletter by clicking the link below.
Hamilton Education Committee
The Activist July 2009
click on the link to read this months issue:
Moya Greens visit to the HMPP
by Mark Platt
Coming to a threate near you
by Robin Evans
Bar charts & Backfiling RLC, Burlington Main Post Implementation
by Ken Heydrich
National Responds to the Strategic Review
by Joette Waddell
Dear Mrytle (Strategic Review)
Moya Greene’s Visit to Hamilton Mail Processing Plant
The President of Canada Post Corporation (CPC), Moya Greene, was at the Hamilton Mail Processing Plant (HMPP) on Wednesday, June 10, 2009, at 8 am to give a presentation to employees and take questions. Also in attendance were Senior Vice-President, Mary Traversy, and Huron Rideau General Manager, Bob Howie. The presentation touched on a number of subjects from the current financial situation, health & safety, and the modernizing of the Post Office.
I had an opportunity to ask Ms. Greene about how many new mail processing machines the HMPP was getting next year and how many jobs will be lost as a result. Bob Howie said we will be getting 8 in total, 4 new Bar Code Sorters (BCS) and 4 Optical Character Readers (OCR’s), for a net loss of 2 mail processing machines. Director Tony Kloosterman told me that CPC is looking at May or June of 2010 to bring them in and that the new BCS’s will likely be in the same place as the old ones and the same for the OCR’s. I was also told the plant is keeping the two Flat Sorting Machines (FSM). Ms. Greene said there would be no job loss as a result. I find it hard to believe there will be no job loss but during the presentation, and in all of CPC’s recent literature, there is a constant refrain about attrition through employee retirements.
1st Vice-President, Terry Langley, asked Ms. Greene about the health & safety of our members in a climate of PACE expectations for clerks, plans to cut 10,000 jobs through attrition, and the computerized route measurement system know as Geo route adversely affecting letter carriers. The response was that CPC was looking at ergonomic improvements. During the presentation Ms. Greene said that the accident rate at CPC was too high and needed to be addressed.
Internal Grievance Officer, Bill Laidlaw, asked Ms. Greene about why CPC is aggressively investing in U.S Equities when the CPC pension plan lost almost 20% last year. Her answer was that the experts were saying the U.S. will lead the world out of the economic down turn and that if the pension plan did not invest in equities then the benefit from it would have to be reduced. She failed to say what would happen if there were more losses to the pension plan in the future.
HMPP Health & Safety Committee member, Don Williams, asked Ms. Greene about the cost of using Manulife and told her about being a survivor of their unpleasant tactics. Her response was that absences were a huge cost at CPC and that we need Manulife to ask employees doctors if they are really sick. She also said many of us treat sick leave like vacation leave. CUPW strongly disagrees with Ms. Greene and her answer makes it very clear what we should expect in 2011.
A CPC supervisor asked Ms. Greene about problems with the Rural and Suburban Mail Carriers pay system and an ongoing problem with some RSMC’s experiencing significant delays in receiving pay. CPC agree this needed to be addressed and Bob Howie said that they were working on a solution to the problem. There was no discussion about the biweekly pay dispute between CUPW and CPC.
A letter carrier asked Ms. Greene about the possibility of asking customers to put their mail boxes at ground level. She replied by explaining that CPC thought this was a good idea but it would be very difficult to get the public to accept the change. Another letter carrier asked about the health & safety training employees get and that new employees should get it first because they have no experience compared to senior members. CPC thought this was a good idea. A clerk asked about the Drug and Dental plan regarding the limited coverage on some benefits. Another member asked about whether the HMPP would be closed in the future and was told it would not. There was a question about the possibility of CPC being privatized and Ms. Greene said there has been no discussion with the Federal Government to privatize.
In solidarity,
Mark Platt
President
CUPW Hamilton Local 548
Strategic Review of the Canada Post Corporation
The Report of the Advisory Panel to the Minister for the Strategic Review of the Canada Post Corporation is now available in printed form. You can now request your free copy at:
http://www.publications.gc.ca/control/publicationInformation?searchAction=2&publicationId=345399
My copy was delivered promptly by UPS! I haven’t read the review as of yet, but this is an immediate issue I have with it.
I would encourage everyone to read it, and respond with issues you have with it. An open forum is available & you are able to email your concerns with your about the report. The site is available at:
http://www.cpcstrategicreview-examenstrategiquescp.gc.ca/index-eng.html
Ken Heydrich
Canadian Union of Postal Workers 548
Hamilton Local 548
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