President's Message February 2011
Canada Post served notice to the Union for the Urban Operations Postal Transformation restructure schedule for 2011/2012. While the other Locals like Toronto and Winnipeg have the largest number of depots on the schedule, the Hamilton Local will have 8 letter carrier depots restructured for sequenced mail. The depots affected and the proposed dates include:
Hamilton LCD 1 September 19, 2011.
Hamilton West (Ancaster, Dundas and L9B) October 17, 2011.
Stoney Creek LCD 3 February 20, 2012.
Hamilton LCD 4 February 20, 2012.
Hamilton LCD 2 April 16, 2012.
Hamilton LCD 5 April 16, 2012.
Oakville Main March 19, 2012.
Oakville Depot March 19, 2012.
The Local is asking management questions about its intention to combine Depots 3 & 4, into LCD 3 at the Hamilton Mail Processing Plant (HMPP), Depots 2 & 5 into a new building, and Oakville Main & Depot into a new building. The Local has been advised that management will be notifying CUPW National in the next few months on the details for the technological change.
The Local has made it clear to Canada Post that the changes they are trying to ram through without input from the Union, the letter carriers and the clerks will be a disaster. This is one of the major strike issues and it is becoming obvious that the Federal Conservatives are intentionally trying to make Canada Post fail because of their inflexible privatization ideology.
The Local raised with management the issue of work leaking from the preferred assignments clerks in Rates & Repairs into the other sections at HMPP. Article 12 of the Urban Operations collective agreement clearly defines the work done in the preferred assignments such as postage due and repairing of damaged mail. Canada Post is trying to water down and cross section this work. If you are ordered to repair damaged mail outside of the Rates & Repairs section please file a grievance.
The Local was part of a National Teleconference on February 3, 2011, along with CUPW National Representatives, including the Health & Safety Committee. In spite of the hype, the Union was informed by Canada Post that they were not getting as much productivity as expected from the Multi Line Optical Character Readers (MLOCR). Management proposed a test pilot on the MLOCR and EFM with the testing to commence at the end of February 2011. The end result may be the addition of more joggers. At Local consultation the Union pointed out that our National President, Denis Lemelin, had told Canada Post back in January of 2010 they were moving too fast with its plans and obviously he was correct.
Canada Post has undergone an internal structure change that will split the mail processing plants and the letter carrier depots into separate directorships. While is it clear that this will allow for the specialization of the directorships in communications and collection and delivery, it is unclear whether the additional bureaucracy will be more effective.
After discussions with the Ontario Region of CUPW, the Local is now arguing its own regular arbitrations. In the past the Ontario Region sent its representatives to argue the Locals grievance files and this Local has not argued its own cases since Brother Joe Kotska was president in the late 1990's.
The Region will still assist and advise the Local when it is arguing files.
The membership will be voting on resolutions to amend the CUPW National Constitution at the February general membership meeting. The resolutions that pass will be sent to the Ontario Regional Conference in April to be voted on by the delegates. Resolutions passed at the Regional Conference will then be voted on in the Fall at the CUPW National Convention in October 2011.
In solidarity,
Mark Platt
President
Hamilton Local 548