National Grievance File

On or about July 28, 2010, the Corporation informed CUPW of its decision to definitely close the postal outlet located at 1479 Youville Drive, in Ottawa. Since that date, the Corporation has been directing the customers of this outlet to privately-operated post offices. As a result, work belonging to the bargaining unit will be done outside the unit. In so doing, the Corporation is violating the provisions of Appendix "I" and Appendix "T" of the Urban Unit Collective Agreement.

The Canada Post Corporation (CPC) has increased the number of bar code sorters (BCS) at the Vancouver Plant without first providing the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) with the notices outlined in clause 29.03. The Union hasn't received relevant information on the nature of the change, the date on which the Corporation proposes to implement the change, the approximate number, type and location of employees likely to be affected by the change, the effects the change may be expected to have on the employees' working conditions and terms of employment and all other relevant data relating to the anticipated effects on employees. In doing so, CPC refused to apply the provisions of Article 29 of the Collective Agreement for the Urban Operations Unit, thus violating the Collective Agreement.

Following the introduction of mail sequencing, the Corporation decided to implement new letter carrier routes with new work methods and a new work system. It is expected that new routes will be implemented in Winnipeg on September 20, and October 18, 2010, and in 2011 as well as in other locations starting in November 2010. The implementation of these routes as planned by the Corporation will result in several violations of the collective agreement, including, among other violations, the following:

1. These new routes will use a new mail delivery method that requires the letter carrier to hold bundles of mail in one hand and on the forearm, in addition to carrying mail in the satchel. This “multiple bundles” work method entails considerable health and safety hazards for employees. By requiring its employees to follow this dangerous work method, the Corporation is violating Article 33 of the collective agreement, Part II of the Canada Labour Code and the Canada Occupational Health and Safety Regulations.

2. The new routes that the Corporation wants to implement in Winnipeg starting September 20, 2010, have been “structured” by the Corporation’s route measurement officers (RMOs) without giving CUPW observers access to the relevant and necessary information they need to ensure the routes were structured in accordance with the Letter Carrier Route Measurement System (LCRMS), the provisions of the collective agreement and the work standards in effect. In so doing, the Corporation is violating Article 47 of the collective agreement.

3. As a matter of facts and despite the failure of the Corporation to give CUPW access to the relevant information, the Union’s observers noticed that the new routes structured by the Corporation are not in compliance with the LCRMS and the collective agreement and not in compliance with the duty of the Corporation to provide safe working conditions.

4. The deliberate refusal of the route measurement officers to structure the new routes in compliance with the LCRMS and the collective agreement is in addition a contravention of the employee’s right to bid on their future route with full knowledge.

5. The introduction of these new routes is also a violation of clause 29.02 of the collective agreement in that it constitutes an adverse effect on employees and a denial of their contractual rights.

Given these multiple violations of the collective agreement, CUPW is opposed to the implementation of the new routes.