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Wednesday, April 6, 2011

IT’S TIME TO TAKE A STAND

On April 13th, 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 7th 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!

4 comments:

  1. THE TIME HAS COME ONCE AGAIN TO SHOW THE EMPLOYER THAT WE ARE STRONG AND STAND UNITED!!!RECORD PROFITS SHOULD MEAN MORE JOBS AND BETTER BENEFITS!!!NOT LESS JOBS AND LESS OF EVERYTHING!!!AS THE UPPER MANAGEMENT TEAM LINES THEIR POCKETS WITH RECORD CASH, OFF THE BACKS OF CUPW WORKERS WHO DO THE REAL WORK AT CPC,HERE WE STAND AND THE TIME HAS COME....TO STRIKE OR AT LEAST SHOW THE EMPLOYER AND OUR NATIONAL THAT WE ARE BEHIND THEM!!!THAT WE AS A WHOLE WILL DO EVERYTHING NECESSARY TO PROTECT OUR JOBS,FAMILIES AND OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS!!

    EQUAL WORK FOR EQUAL PAY!!!!ALONG WITH BENEFITS AND REASONABLE WORKING CONDITIONS!!!

    I VOTE YES!YES!YES!

    SEE YOU ALL NEXT WEDNESDAY!!

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  2. Imagine working 30 years to obtain a 30 minute lunch.
    Preposterous!!!!!

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  3. Why is management attacking indexing of our pension? My wife and I just took the pre retirement pension course and were told that employees paid an extra 5% to index their pensions. In other words it does not cost management anything but processing costs for employees at Canada Post to have an idexed pension.

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  4. I look forward to the Strike vote and the Fight ahead! These rollbacks are not only an insult to us workers but a slap in the face to our Families and the Children we raise. How dare this corporation rob us of what We work for in the name of profits and greed!

    Solidarity!

    ReplyDelete