President's Message, August 2013
Privatization
The government and its corporate masters are again beating the drum of privatization. We have heard everything from contracting out to 3 day postal service. National CUPW is reporting that in spite of polls indicating that the public has no interest in seeing the post office privatized we are seeing the right wing think tanks and some of the right leaning media aping the same old party line. In a democracy the will of the majority is suppose to be respected. During the life of a collective agreement the provisions are suppose to be honoured. The customer is suppose to get their full 5 day a week postal service because they need it. But alas for free market conservatives hoards of money reigns supreme, not democracy, not service, and most certainly not public service. And the private sector wants to get their greedy little hands on the best pieces of the Post Office even if it means we lose money and the taxpayer foots the bill. Let's hope Canadians see the light next election so we don't end up like the American's after the Bush years of bailouts and excessive corporate welfare.
Privacy Breach
The Local received enquiries from a number of members towards the end of July regarding a letter they received from Canada Post regarding the theft of an office computer at the residence of an employee. Apparently the computer contained personal information of a number of employees. The letter directed affected employees to notify creditors and to place a flag on their credit. The Local was not notified by management although the Regional level of the Union was notified. The Local met with management on August 12th, 2013, and asked a number of questions relating to the issue. If you receive one of these letters please call the Local office for assistance. The Local has already filed a grievance and is pursuing the issue with the employer to address any adverse affects resulting from the privacy breach.
VES move to Toronto
The Local is having on going discussions with management on their proposed movement of 14 equivalent full time jobs out of the Manual Sort section related to the loss of the VES work to Toronto. Canada Post has informed us they are now delaying implementation to the end of October 2013. Management is planning on adding some part time positions to the Finals section to absorb some of the positions lost and informed us they will keep all other affected employees over and above compliment in a yet to be determined sections. This is similar to what was done in the spring with the last 6.05 change to all the sections and the surplus that resulted from the changes.
Hamilton LCD 1 Restructure Implementation
Depot 1 in Hamilton is going through its second Postal Transformation (PT) restructure and while the goal was to correct the problems with the first restructure, many problems remain. If you recall the Local filed an Article 47.11 fast track grievance to deal with the outstanding issues. There are still outstanding National grievances on the two bundle system and the lack of time values for a number of duties the letter carriers are now required to perform. With the loss of the wash up time value in the latest contract along with some other variables Canada Post projected 3 full time jobs lost. This is significantly less then the first PT restructure but not representative of the actual work being performed. On a positive note, as a result of an error tracking parcel volumes by Canada Post earlier this year, there was an addition of work put back into a number of routes and an agreement to rebid the routes. In the end no jobs were lost.
Retirement Mementos
I am very pleased to announce that the Local is providing retirement gifts for members who are retiring from Canada Post. You can get forms to complete from the Local website or at the Local office. The Union is offering these items as a small token of appreciation for paying dues, coming to membership meetings, and participating in strikes. I would like to give a special thanks to Secretary Treasurer, Sophie Kruk, for her efforts in researching and coming up with the gifts.
In solidarity,
Mark Platt
President,
Hamilton Local 548