Collective Agreement Expires in 10 Months! Collective Bargaining Quickly Approaching…
April 23, 2010
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Posted by admin
On January 31, 2011, our Collective Agreement with Canada Post will expire. As a result, the rights and entitlements provided by our Collective Agreement will be subject to renegotiation. In preparation for this round of collective bargaining, CUPW locals from coast to coast will soon meet to put forward contract demands that will address the needs of our future. After individual CUPW locals have endorsed their contract demands, those demands will be brought forward for endorsement at CUPW Regional Conferences, scheduled to be held throughout Canada during June 2010. Following the Regional Conferences, the CUPW National Office will consolidate the ratified contract demands into a single package. CUPW members will subsequently be asked to vote on those demands. It is expected that this will take place in September of 2010. If approved by the membership, the package of demands will serve as the Union’s mandate for collective bargaining.
There are many serious concerns and issues facing CUPW members, including but not limited to the following:
- Wage protection
- Pension protection
- Job security
- Benefits protection, including sick leave
- Forced overtime and overburdening
- Staffing shortages, in both Groups 1 and 2
- Escalating injuries rates and Manulife harassment
- Accommodation and modified duties
The Union’s ability to address these concerns is directly tied to the process of collective bargaining. Our rights, benefits, and entitlements can only be improved and/or maintained through the negotiations process. It is important now to be prepared to support the Union as it moves forward toward the bargaining table. The strength of the CUPW membership and its willingness to resist cutbacks will be under serious scrutiny by Moya Greene’s management regime. Although the face of the CUPW membership is changing, the challenges remain the same. Our future is in our hands.
Short Term Disability (STD)
It is common knowledge that Canada Post CEO Moya Greene (who is doing very well by her 33% personal performance bonus) has targeted our sick leave benefits. As a result, the Short Term Disability Plan (STD) is expected to be at the top of Canada Post’s list of demands.
Recently described by Moya Greene and Vice-President Doug Jones as “gold-plated” and “top of the line”, the STD has been an extremely contentious issue with other Canada Post bargaining units, such as the UPCE. If implemented, CUPW members would immediately cease to earn sick leave credits. Accrued sick leave credits would be transformed into “top-up” credits and an annual entitlement of seven (7) days of personal leave would replace our current annual entitlement of fifteen (15) days of sick leave:
Current Sick Leave vs. Personal Leave Entitlement
Current Sick Leave Personal Leave 15 days per year 7 days per year
If the STD program is implemented, CUPW members would be restricted to an annual entitlement of seven (7) personal days per year to cover wage loss during absences due to illness and injury. While personal leave may be used in “urgent” situations (i.e. illness, injury) it may also be used in “non-urgent” situations, for reasons not involving an employee’s health. In “urgent” situations, personal leave may be used without prior approval. But in “non-urgent” situations, personal leave would be subject to approval based on “operational requirements”. At Canada Post, “operational requirements” is often associated as code for denial.
The difficulties associated with “operational requirements” and the question of who determines whether a situation is “urgent” or “non-urgent” should be immediately apparent.
Subject to a 7 calendar day “waiting period” , the STD provides employees with 70% of their wages in the event of an approved period of illness or injury that exceeds 7 calendar days up to a period of six months. “Top-up” credits, if available, can be used to increase wage loss coverage to 100%. While the “waiting period” would not apply to employees who are hospitalized or have suffered accidents, it would apply in cases of illness. For illnesses, unused personal leave days or “top-up” credits may be used to cover wage loss during the waiting period, but in the absence of unused personal leave days or “top-up” credits, an employee would receive no wage loss protection during that period.
There will be no borrowing of personal leave. Further, there will be limited carryover as employees will not be permitted to retain more than 12 days of personal leave days at any time.
In the event that an employee’s annual 7 day personal leave entitlement is used up, there would be no further wage loss coverage for short-term medical absences of less than seven (7) days without banked personal leave credits.
In the last two and a half years, we have learned a great deal about Manulife. During that time, many members have learned that there has never been a worse time to suffer from the misfortune of an illness or injury. If the STD is implemented, Manulife will be the sole administrator of the program. According to documents provided by Canada Post, eligibility for STD benefits will depend on whether an employee has followed the program of treatment “as deemed appropriate for the illness or injury by the Disability Management Provider”.
In the past, an employee’s physician has determined the appropriate course of treatment. Under the terms of the STD, a Manulife case manager will determine whether a prescribed program of treatment is “appropriate”.
The Union maintains the view that an employee’s physician is in the best position to determine his or her patient’s program of treatment.
Adequate Wage Loss Protection?
Canada Post has already embarked on a campaign to sell the STD to the CUPW membership. Will the STD provide adequate wage loss protection in the event of illness or injury? Recent attendance statistics from the Vancouver Mail Processing Plant (VMPP) strongly suggest otherwise. Keep in mind that the figures below exclude both unpaid and long-term sick leave absences:
Average VMPP Sick Leave Usage
vs. Personal Leave Entitlement
VMPP 2007 2008 Personal Leave Average 13.34 13.88 7 days per year Shift 3 11.64 14.92 7 days per year Shift 2 12.41 11.00 7 days per year Shift 1 17.38 16.91 7 days per year
It should be apparent that average rates of sick leave usage exceed the entitlement to personal leave under the STD program. Please note that the cited VMPP figures are very similar to the sick leave averages of Group 2 (Letter Carrier and MSC) employee complements. If implemented, the STD would serve as a vehicle to accelerate the depletion of current banked sick leave credits (referred to under the STD program as “top-up credits”). Sooner, rather than later, a significant proportion of the CUPW membership would no longer have sufficient wage loss protection to cover short-term absences resulting from illness and injury.
Other Cutbacks
Aside from the STD, Canada Post also has other cutbacks in store. In October 2009, Canada Post announced a series of changes to its Total Compensation Package through its intrapost website:
- Pre-retirement leave will be discontinued for management and exempt personnel
- Elimination of the entitlement to a 7th week of vacation leave.
- Canada Post has also commenced offloading the cost of Post-Retirement Medical Benefits directly on to retirees. It is expected that there will be more changes to retirement benefits as the year progresses.
Canada Post stated that it is “committed” to discussing these Total Compensation cutbacks with “all bargaining agents through the negotiation process”. This is simply another way of saying that Canada Post will seek to impose these changes at the bargaining table.
The propaganda war is right on the horizon and truth will be the first casualty. Canada Post will claim that it requires changes (cutbacks) to remain competitive. It will claim that it needs to make employee benefit plans more sustainable for the Corporation.
As a Union, we must be prepared to resist Canada Post’s demands for cutbacks and support our program of bargaining demands to meet our needs for our future.
Both Canada Post and the Union will soon be distributing literature regarding the STD, representing very different perspectives. In the Union’s view, the STD represents a serious cutback and the start of a two-tiered system of benefits, as new and future indeterminate employees will have reduced entitlements and limited or no access to “top-up” credits.
As the Collective Agreement approaches its expiry date, please take the time to learn about the STD and Canada Post’s other proposed cutbacks. Our ability to protect our rights and benefits is entirely dependent on our willingness to support the Union at each and every step of the collective bargaining process.
In solidarity,
Ken Mooney
Regional Grievance Officer
Categories: News Bulletins
Immediately into the December 1, 2009 hearing, Canada Post demanded the production of the Grievor’s banking records. Canada Post claimed that the Grievor’s banking records were necessary for a “fair hearing”. Canada Post also claimed that there were issues of credibility. The Union refused to accede to the Corporation’s request and maintained that the Corporation was attempting to go on a fishing expedition to search for something that it could not establish with evidence or theory. On January 15, 2010, Arbitrator Gordon issued an interlocutory award, wherein she dismissed the Corporation’s application and noted that it had not exposed any issues of credibility.