CUPW kicks off PorchLights for Posties Campaign

Postal Workers in Edmonton will be taking to the streets on November 25th to kick off a door to door Campaign Porchlights for Posties . “It is time to raise community awareness of the problems facing Postal Workers and our customers.” said CUPW Local President Bev Ray.” Ray also stated that an example of this is 92 letters carriers on Tuesday across the city being forced to work on uncovered letter carrier routes as well as Rural & Suburban (RSMC) routes not even being delivered, which resulted in over 7,000 homes in Edmonton not receiving mail.

Edmontonians have noticed recently that their mail is now arriving much later than previously. Some residents have reported receiving their mail as late as 8:00 p.m. or later. Many small businesses, schools and banks are reporting receiving their mail after business hours, negatively impacting their business. This deterioration of service is the result of changes made by Canada Post to its delivery method. It is part of the Crown Corporation’s move to further mechanize postal operations.

Canada Post has been a profitable crown corporation for the past 15 years, paying hundreds of millions of dollars in dividends to the Federal Government and hundreds of millions more in taxes over that period. We believe that Canadians deserve to see these profits translate into improved services and expansion by providing new services.

Canada Post used to ensure that there were sufficient letter carriers to cover all letter carrier routes. Now they have reduced staffing to a minimum resulting in letter carriers delivering as much as 4 – 6 hours in the dark. Many letter carriers have family responsibilities ( i.e. grandparents, parents with young children, caring for aging parents, etc.,) and are forced to work for as many as 15 hours in a day or face discipline up to and including losing their job if they refuse.

Postal Workers have tried reasoning with Canada Post over the unsafe delivery method, late night delivery and deterioration of service, to no avail. The Canadian Union of Postal Workers has proposed reasonable alternatives and ways to expand postal services for Canadians that make economic sense. Canada Post chooses instead to reduce services to Canadians. This has included closing rural and small post offices, cutting hours of customer counters, not providing sufficient letter carrier staffing to cover all routes, changing starting times for letter carriers, and removing street letter boxes. Where will it end?

How can we help each other? Please take the time to call your MP or call Canada Post toll free at 1-866-267-1177

You can contact Bev Ray, President-Canadian Union of Postal Workers, through our website union@cupwedm.net or call 780-423-9000 for more information.

Canada Post Rams Through the Postal Transformation Plan at EMPP

On Thursday November 4th, local union representatives were involved in the National Consultation on Postal Transformation. The presentation provided by CPC outlined all the planned changes for the EMPP in Edmonton.
CUPW is outraged at the lack of consultation and information provided in advance and the ability to schedule local consultations to ensure that the member’s rights are protected. The following is a brief summary of what the plans for November & December are:

• Ads & Pubs to move to off-site location (effective December, 2010) which will require changes to 5 ton shuttles.

• Install exterior fence in parking lot (this will remove over 100 employee parking stalls and reduce 5 ton and trailer parking)

• Relocate Employee Entrance (involves Asbestos removal)

• Relocate Priority courier conveyor belt (this will include combining DCF finals for parcel sort, premium sort to smaller offices. Reported that only 1 bag sent will be to smaller offices)

• Relocate PDSL Keying & Staging

• Move current RVU Staging & Scale and office, MT Equip.

• Demolish existing mezzanine/office & Employee entrance

• Move RVU staging next to “new” RVU office by the high dock

• Begin Demolition of NE Corner of the Building (involves Asbestos removal)

Changes will not end there but continue right through until September 2012. The changes will include moving sections and equipment in the plant every 2-3 months, VES installed where the current exercise room is, moving Depot 4 and 8 City Finals back to Whitemud South, new MLOCR’s installed, removal of old machines & equipment deletion of some current sections (ie: Priority Courier).

We will be providing a more detailed slide presentation at the local GMM Sunday November 7th, 2010. This meeting will be @ 6:00 pm at the Lion’s Senior’s Centre located at 11113 – 111 Avenue.

CPC MAINTAINS THAT ALL OF THE CHANGES DO NOT CONSITUTE TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE NOTICE (29.03(b)).

THE UNION DOES NOT SUPPORT THIS POSITION AND HAS DEMANDED LOCAL CONSULTATIONS BE SCHEDULED IMMEDIATELY!



In solidarity,

Bev Ray

Why Postal Workers Should Defend a Public Postal Service

The right to earn a fair wage is under attack and Canada Post has decided to lead the Attack. In Canada the Canadian Union of Postal Workers has had a long tradition to improve the living wages of labour workers and benefits that all Canadians have benefited from.


If it was not for Postal Workers fighting for Maternity Benefits no Woman in Canada would now have the ability to have paid leave while they were pregnant and stay at home to care for their newborn children.

It it was not for the Postal Workers fighting for the right to work an 8 hour day, national, provincial and municipal standards would not protect workers rights to an 8 hour work day.

Today Canada Post wants to make workers and the public believe that there needs to be fundamental changes that would see a dramatic backslide in workers rights to earn a “living wage.”

• Do you want to give up your seniority rights?

• Do you want to have the pre-retirement benefits removed?

• Do you want to have changes that allow Canada Post to have others do your work?

• Do you want to have your Sick Leave Benefits disappear?

• Do you want to have to deliver 100% of householders in 1 day?

• Do you want to be forced to deliver mail using your own vehicle?

• Do you want to earn a lower wage for doing the same work because you are a new employee?

• Do you want CPC to not have to pay you when you get injured at work?

• Do you want to not get paid for overtime worked?



Canada Post has forgotten that they are still a Crown Corporation and fall under federal legislation. There are services that all Canadians should be secure in knowing that their elected government will protect and provide. A PUBLIC POSTAL SERVICE IS ONE OF THOSE SERVICES!

2011 Negotiations are well under way and it is necessary for CUPW members to defend our Program of Demands.

Bev Ray

PRESIDENT Edmonton CUPW

  



NEGOTIATIONS 2011 – IT IS ON!

Canada Post Corporation shows their “LEMON” Proposal for Negotiations!

It is evident after reading the CPC agenda for negotiations that their interest lies solely in increasing profit by attacking Pensions, Sick Leave, Vacation and removing language from the collective agreement that protects CUPW members.

Some of the highlights of what they have put on the table include:

• Defined contribution pension plan

• Short term disability program

• Elimination of 7th week of vacation for current employees with less than 28 years service

• Revise criteria for Night worker recovery leave.

• More flexibility in sizes & delivery spans for Householders

• Changes to of staffing for retail, Group 1 and Group 2

• Increase use of private vehicles

• Retain seniority rights for employees “Acting Supervisor” for 6 months

• Revised job security

• Changes to have work done by both Group 1 and Group 2 employees and other bargaining units.

This is not a complete list of their agenda. Copies of the CPC proposal are available at the Union Office and will also be made available on the union website. The Strength of our Union has had a long history of taking on CPC to fight for our rights as workers! THE TIME IS NOW TO SHOW CPC THAT CUPW members WILL NOT BACK DOWN !!!!! GET INVOLVED!!!!!!

Bev Ray

President October 22, 2010

Street Letter Boxes at Risk!

Disappearing SLB Alert ! !



Management advised the Local CUPW, at a meeting on new SLB clearance procedures on Friday afternoon June 11, that they would be starting a volume sampling of Street Letter Boxes across the city on Monday June 14. They said this would allow them to “rationalize” their network.



Can anyone remember the last time boxes were added in heavy volume areas??!! To any postie this “sampling”, as we move toward the “Modern Post” restructures, is a clear danger of reduction of mailboxes, meaning service and jobs!



They provide lists of boxes to be sampled, both for the 17:00 MSC clearance and the A.M. MLC clearance. The 17:00 MSC list includes 79 boxes, with sampling scheduled over 2 weeks June 14-25.



The Letter Carrier list includes almost every box in the city, 205 in all!! No time frame is provided.



Canada Post Must Not Be Allowed to Reduce Jobs & Service in Edmonton and Sherwood Park !



Bev Ray, President

Edmonton CUPW

June 15 2010

CONTEST WINNER ANNOUNCED!!

CUPW Edmonton President Bev Ray has conducted the draw for the earings previously offered as a draw prize to celebrate the launch of "The President's Blog". The WINNER is Sister Joanne Banack, a long-time CUPW Shop Steward in Camrose. Congratulations Joanne!!

And as one potentially-disgruntled contestant from the EMPP Parcel Hub put it, "Well if I can't win at least it's a Shop Steward!"

"Modern Post" (Postal Transformation) in Edmonton

Canada Post held an initial information meeting with the Local Union January 26. Their local planning is only in the initial stages and so most of their information was either very general, tentative, or not yet available. As in Winnipeg the project will be phased in, starting with the Plant, looking to be completed in 2012. They expect at least 6 new MLOCRs, an upgraded FSM, with all of City Finals returning to the EMPP. They plan a centralized computer system, integrating processing and delivery data.




Letter Carrier restructures will then be phased in, to reflect machine-sequenced mail and the shifting of parcels, customer pick-ups and SLB/RPO clearances from the Parcel Hub to Motorized Letter Carriers. They are looking at completing this in 2013.



They have not yet decided if mail will be sequenced for urban RSMCs. The project is, so far at least, “urban only” and so they say that outlying offices should not be affected; e.g. Letter Carriers and RRs in Camrose would not have their mail arriving sequenced.



The Union raised concerns about management personnel spreading alarmist rumours. Official communications on this project will come from a designated management group, to be unveiled shortly, and of course from the Union. Full detailed information on the effects must be provided through National Notice to the Union, under Article 29 Tech. Change.



We also raised the need for ergonomic studies on new equipment and involvement of the Local Joint Health & Safety Committees at all affected facilities; Maintenance facility shop space & Automotive Services; contracting-in Highway Services to MSCs; dedicated flyer collating; accommodation of modified employees and massive staff re-deployment affecting PO4s, PO5s, Tech Services, MSCs and Letter Carriers (Article 53 Job Security), and Temporary Employees.


PARCEL HUB MSC RESTRUCTURE UNDERWAY

The MSC Restructure of Parcel Hub routes is continuing at Delivery Services by CPC Route Measurement Officer(s), with our Union Observer Todd Brooks. After the results of the delivery rate sampling were produced, a preparatory meeting was held with the Local on January 12 2010.


The parcel volume base for 2009, excluding July, August and December, is UP from 14,239 per week to 14,882 per week, and needs further adjustment up to account for late Priorities and Xpresspost (TPS).

Delivery rates (Stops per hour) will change as follows:

Route Type Old New

Res (RSD) 16.2 15.43

Hi-Rise (RHR) 13.53 14.78

Res-Comb 15.78 15.96

Bus (WEM) 14.52 10.71

Res-Bus 12.32 12.42

Volumes appear to have flattened out after Mondays, so they are looking at the same start times Tuesday to Friday. Mondays may be able to be reduced somewhat but will still be over 8 hours.

Operations Management have declared they want to eliminate weekend MSC work completely. Moving parcel delivery to weekdays should gain us more Full Time routes, but elimination of weekend clearances would raise issues of service and security of the mail, plus overfilling RPOs and overburdening Motorized Letter Carriers and/or MSCs clearing RPOs on Monday.