In the spring of 2022, CUPW and the other unions at Canada Post were approached by the Corporation to request our collaboration for a virtual conference on occupational Health and Safety.

However, at the same time, CPC is adopting a punitive approach towards Health and Safety. For example, with their road safety enforcement program, the Corporation’s approach is simple: imposing for each infraction an immediate suspension without pay. CUPW is against this approach and our position is that all discipline imposed on our members need to be just, reasonable and for sufficient cause and will be assessed by an Arbitrator as per the collective agreement provisions.

Further to that, a number of unresolved issues with the Short-Term Disability Program (STDP) brings into question CPC’s real intent towards Health and Safety. CPC is constantly trying to impose treatment plans to our members through their suppliers with little to no consideration of the opinion of their treating physician. We also have numerous issues with CPC’s accommodation process and had to file numerous grievances over the years on the subject.

Therefore, as long as CPC uses repressive methods to promote occupational Health and Safety, CUPW will not participate or cooperate in any way with the development and presentation of the Corporation’s virtual conference on Health and Safety scheduled in late October 2022. Our position is that, for the time being, we will only participate to collective agreement or Canada Labour Code mandated meetings.

The Union’s view is that education and training to promote Health and Safety in the workplace is a more constructive and positive way to address the issues.

Together, we will win!

In solidarity,

Labour College is open for applications until October 23, 2022

Labour College, the Canadian Labour Congress’ (CLC) flagship trade union leadership development program, is a unique learning opportunity for union leaders and active members to learn new skills and take on the challenges that face the labour movement. It provides university level courses on issues related to work and the rights of workers in Canada. It gives graduates the necessary tools to be effective leaders in their union, their labour council, and the wider labour movement for the benefit of all workers.

CUPW members in good standing are eligible to apply for this post-secondary program, which is offered in English. Francophones from Quebec may apply to attend Le Collège FTQ-Fonds (Programme d’éducation syndicale 2022-2023 de la FTQ-LL – Fédération des travailleurs et travailleuses du Québec (FTQ)).

The program aims to: 

• build leadership skills and provide leadership tools;
• foster empowerment, self-confidence, and new networks of labour leaders;
• strengthen critical thinking skills;
• examine working class struggles and human rights issues that affect all workers; and
• create change.

SUBJECTS

 

 

SCHEDULE*

 Three intensive course sessions are offered over 14 months or longer. Each session includes online and in-person learning in addition to independent study. In-person classes are offered each year in British Columbia (BC) and/or Ontario.

SESSION 1:      Unions in the Political Economy
January/February, 2023 – Online
Week of February 26 to March 3, 2023 – In person, BC

SESSION 2:      Labour Leadership and Organizing Change
May/June, 2023 – Online
Week of July 16, 2023 – In person, Ontario 

SESSION 3:      Growing the Movement – Inside and Out
January/February, 2024 – Online
Week of February 25, 2024 – In person, BC

An orientation session will take place prior to the beginning of Session 1. The Independent Learning Project (online) will take place between sessions.

* Dates are subject to change and will be finalized 3-4 months prior to the start of each session.

 

WHO SHOULD APPLY? *

CUPW members in good standing who: 

•      Are or have been active in their union (elected position, active volunteer, committee member, etc.);

•      Have attended one or more labour education course(s);

•      Are active in social and economic justice issues in their community;

•      Are able to make the time over a year or more to attend and prepare for online and in- person courses and complete the independent learning requirements.

Members of equity-seeking groups – women workers, workers of colour, workers with disabilities, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, two-spirit, intersex, and Indigenous workers – are encouraged to apply.

 * If you are considering applying, please contact your Local and your Region to advise them.

HOW TO APPLY

Applications (for Cohort 10) will close on October 23, 2022, at 11:59 p.m. (Eastern Time).

All applicants are encouraged to speak with their union education representative and to identify available financial supports before submitting their application form.

To apply for the next LCC Certificate Program, start your application here: https://clcctc.checkbox.ca/lcc-application-2022—cohort-10

If you have questions about the LCC Certificate Program, please email labourcollege@clcctc.ca.

WHAT ABOUT THE COSTS?

The Joe Davidson Education Fund, as outlined in Article 11.04 of the CUPW Constitution, covers the costs for one participant and a second applicant’s costs will also be covered by CUPW.

In Solidarity,

N00-22-00004 (URBAN) / N00-22-R0004 (RSMC)

In August 2022, Canada Post consulted with CUPW to modify its employee recognition program, better known as the “Bravo Recognition Program”.  During the national consultation, CUPW objected that the recognition program contained several violations of both the RSMC and Urban collective agreements. Among other things, the program violates CUPW’s right to act as the exclusive bargaining agent.

Specifically, through the Bravo Recognition Program, the employer is providing non-negotiated benefits to some workers and not others. Many of these non-negotiated benefits are tied to individual worker performance. CUPW has always maintained that benefits tied to individual performance are divisive, creating favouritism and ultimately undermining solidarity among workers.

Furthermore, CUPW would like to remind those who might find it enticing to accept, for example, a gift card or a prepaid gas card that, unlike a negotiated salary increase, a gift card or a gas card does not count towards your pensionable earnings. In other words, CUPW believes that negotiated wage increases or benefits for all the workers it represents will always be preferable to individual awards.

However, it should be noted that CUPW is not opposed to recognition awards such as those related to years of service (e.g.: pins for every 5 years of service or a watch after 25 years). Indeed, this is a form of recognition to which all workers will be entitled at some point in their career at Canada Post and is in no way linked to individual worker productivity.

Therefore, in light of the above, CUPW has seen fit to file two national grievances (N00-22-00004 for the Urban Unit and N00-22-R0004 for the RMSCs) denouncing the changes to the employee recognition program, better known as the “Bravo Recognition Program”.

We therefore invite you to send your Local any relevant information related to the Bravo Recognition Program in your workplace.

In Solidarity,

The second National Truth and Reconciliation Day will take place September 30. As one of the 94 calls to action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the purpose of this day is to commemorate and honour the lives of Indigenous people killed by the State and the Church.

The Canadian State continues its colonial practices. Over and above the discovery of children’s remains on Residential School grounds, is the fact that Prime Minister Trudeau has promised change for Indigenous people and has yet to make good on these promises.  Whether it be clean drinking water, confronting the unjust proportion of Indigenous people who are incarcerated, the ongoing and unaccounted for abuse of Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit folk, the brash imposition of pipelines on Indigenous territory, the ongoing theft of land and police brutality, the bulldozing of Indigenous rights remains complete.

Apologies like the one given by Pope Francis during his visit to Canada this summer are clearly insufficient. The Government and the Church were complicit in the genocidal practice of “to kill the Indian in the child.” Moreover, it was not only the Catholic Church but other denominations which took part in these unfathomable practices.

Thousands of children were stolen from their families to be murdered by the Government and the Church. Indigenous people, including some CUPW members, continue to suffer from the appalling treatment inflicted on generations of their people. For victims, and the children of those taken by the Church and State, the intergenerational trauma remains.

In Solidarity,