IT’S TIME TO TAKE A STAND

On April 13^th, Winnipeg postal workers will be joining the rest of the country and casting their ballots on whether or not to give the National Union the authority to call a strike in order to achieve a collective agreement.  For the majority of our members in Winnipeg, this will be the first time they have participated in this process while others have been down this road many times in the past.  Regardless of your length of service, the urgency to participate in this vote is the same for us all.

The employer has set themselves on a path of direct conflict with our Union based on the ridiculous and unjustified demands for massive rollbacks to our collective agreement.  Rollbacks that will impact every single postal worker that recently retired, is currently on duty and those workers that haven’t even started at Canada Post yet.

Ø  Their demand to eliminate our paid sick leave plan under Article 20 rolls the collective agreement back to 1968.

Ø  Their demand to eliminate the 7^th week of vacation leave under Article 19 rolls the collective agreement back to 1980.

Ø  Their demand to reduce Injury on Duty pay under Article 24 rolls the collective agreement back to 1976.

Ø  Their demand to increase the age of early retirement without penalty for those with less than 30 years of service under Article 42 rolls the collective agreement back to 1971.

Ø  Not giving all employees a 30 minute paid meal period under Article 14 rolls the collective agreement back to 1980.

Ø  Setting a starting wage of $17.50 per hour under Appendix A rolls the collective agreement back to 1999.

Ø  The attack on pension indexing takes us back to wage and price controls imposed by the government in 1984.

It’s quite incredible that Canada Post is demanding these rollbacks to our collective agreement given that we’ve made the post office profitable for the last 16 years and have consistently increased our productivity. 

The employer is exposed in their hypocrisy by demanding these rollbacks and yet paying out a corporate team incentive bonus….. to some - not all.

A strong strike mandate is required to knock the employer off of their rollback agenda.  It’s also required to show the employer our determination to achieve solutions to the problems we face every day at work and to make “improvements” to our collective agreement.  It’s required to show the employer that we will not be divided between inside workers and outside workers, between permanent workers and temporary workers and that we will not allow the employer to implement a cheap labour strategy on future employees that will inevitably be demanded of us in future rounds of bargaining.

The membership of CUPW have a long and proud history of fighting for decent jobs and quality service to the public.  Our employer has a long and greedy history of putting profits ahead of people and our communities.  Our success depends on your participation. 

Attend the Strike Vote meetings and take a stand.

OUR JOBS, OUR FIGHT, OUR FUTURE!