Wednesday January 18 2023
As per the Memorandum of Agreement extending the Urban Collective Agreement until January 31, 2024, the CUPW and Canada Post held discussions with the goal of resolving the Two Bundle grievances. As the parties were not able to come to an agreement, we asked the Arbitrator to provide his decision to the parties.
We received the decision on the Two Bundle Delivery method on National Grievances N00-07-00032 and N00-12-00017 on January 16, 2023. The first grievance on the subject was filed in 2010 following the implementation of the Postal Transformation project.
Unfortunately, the Arbitrator dismissed the grievances stating, amongst other reasons, that he was not convinced that the Back-to-Back method posed an increased danger to the health and safety of letter carriers that warranted remedial intervention. Among other things, he discounted the Golder Report as he found that its conclusions against the Back-to-Back method were not sufficiently scientifically supported. The Arbitrator did however point out that the Memorandum of Agreement incorporated in the Collective Agreement by Arbitrator MacPherson in the interest arbitration stands unaltered and is an enforceable provision of the Collective Agreement.
This MOA states that:
“Letter carriers who find it more convenient to combine their sequenced and manual mail in their vehicle before undertaking their delivery will not be disciplined by the Corporation for doing so.”
This is not the result we were hoping for after such a long battle, but we wish to remind members that The Struggle Continues and encourage you to submit demands for the next round of bargaining to return to the one bundle delivery method. Our health and safety will always be at the center of our concerns, and we will continue to demand work methods that are safe for our members.
In Solidarity,
Carl Girouard
National Grievance Officer