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

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-investigation

Ken Heydrich

2nd Vice President

Saturday Jan 30th, 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

G) Unfinished Business/ Vote on by-law change

H) Good and Welfare

I)     New Business

J)   Adjournment

In Solidarity,

Local Executive 548

]]> http://cupwhamilton.org/2010/01/general-membership-meeting-2/feed/ http://cupwhamilton.org/2010/01/force-backs-again/ http://cupwhamilton.org/2010/01/force-backs-again/#comments Tue, 12 Jan 2010 18:55:42 +0000 Hamilton 548 Executive http://cupwhamilton.org/?p=1733

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

On January 11^th 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 27^th 2009 & again on December 11^th 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

2^nd Vice President

CUPW Hamilton 548

Heydrich_2ndvice@bellnet.ca

905.573.8700 ext: 29

February 6th 2010.

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

Canada Post has provided the Union with floor plans for the new mail processing machines for next year. It appears that management is putting 8 new OCR’s in the same place currently occupied by 5 OCR’s. The Local has posted a copy on the bulletin board at the Hamilton Mail Processing Plant (HMPP) for members to review. The set up looks very congested with not much room to spare and the potential for safety hazards. The Union representatives of the health & safety committee will be raising members concerns regarding the proposal.

Management consulted with the Local over the last two months on a proposal for a manual sort pilot project to be set up beside the current Finals sections at the HMPP. In their proposal management stated they intent to test sort cases with clerks sorting on one side and other clerks dispatching mail on the back side for the entire shift. The Local’s position is that this is a technological change under Article 29 of the collective agreement and there has not been sufficient notice or national agreement for such a pilot. The Local asked Management who they were going to get to do the pilot project and they said volunteers. The Local then asked what would happen if they did not get any volunteers and they said clerks would be forced. If this occurs the Local is advising the members to ask for grievance time and to file a grievance.

The Local had consultation with Management October 29, 2009, on the LCD 1, 1st Quality Review. This is a preliminary meeting of the parties which occurs before the restructuring exercise begins. There were a number of concerns raised by the Local but the biggest issue was how Canada Post has captured the mail volumes. There was a 10 day volume count in September and 48 weeks Mail Volume Index (MVI). Management stopped using the MVI and switched to the new Automated Mail Volume Index (AMVI) earlier this year without telling the Local. Apparently the Union was notified in Ottawa. Since that time the Local has identified a number of discrepancies and inaccuracies with the new AMVI. To date, the employer has been unwilling to address our concerns and a grievance will have to be filed in order to get an accurate accounting and mail volume index. The LCD 1 restructure is not going to be implemented until the spring of 2010.

In addition to the floor plans of the new mail processing machines at the HMPP, the Local has received a schedule following National consultation between Canada Post and the Union on the implementation of sequencing into letter carrier routes. Hamilton is on the schedule for the third quarter of 2011 to begin sequencing mail for letter carriers. I was part of the sequencing pilot project in Burlington LCD 8 in 1993 as a letter carrier. I was also part of the Appendix AA Pilot Project at LCD 8 in 2001 that tested a variation of sequencing mail for letter carriers. For those of us who have seen sequencing, and there are a number of letter carriers around the Local who were part the pilot projects, we can tell you the change is quite dramatic. The majority of the mail arrives at the case pre-sorted in lettertainers with nothing more to do then tie it out. The new mail processing machines have redirection capabilities. The employer is currently setting up the flat (magazines, envelopes, etc.) sorting machines to have letter carrier route numbers put on every piece processed.

I have heard some letter carriers say this technology is still experimental but that is not the case. The Americans, and other postal administrations, have had sequencing since the 1990’s. There is evidence of negative affects in terms of workplace injuries. We are about to get state of the art sequencing. It is very important for all members that will be affected by this technological change to find out everything they can. Please take advantage of the advance notice we are getting to prepare for the changes and ask questions.

In solidarity,

Mark Platt
President
Hamilton Local 548

General Membership Meeting

Saturday Nov 28th, 2009
6:30 pm

Location:
SHERATON HOTEL
116 king St W. Hamilton, Ont.
Meeting will be held in the: Beckett Room

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/Temporary Trustee
Committee Member -1 position.
G) Unfinished Business
H) Good and Welfare
I) New Business
J) Adjournment

In Solidarity,
Local Executive 548

• 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.

activist_sept091

Hamilton Education Committee

General Membership Meeting

Saturday Aug 29th, 2009

6:30 pm

Location:

SHERATON HOTEL

116 king St W. Hamilton, Ont.

Meeting will be held in the: Heritage Room

• 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/Education Committee-2 positions/ Trustee Committee-1 position
• G) Unfinished Business
• H) Good and Welfare

 I)  New Business/ Shift Bids

J)  Adjournment

                        CUPWHAMILTON.ORG