National Grievance File

On February 18, 2010, John Thomas, CPC Manager, Labour Relations, in Ottawa, informed the Union that the Corporation did not intend to return to the financial cap the amounts deducted for a hand sanitizer provided to Rural and Suburban Mail Carriers in 2009 to help prevent the H1N1 virus, as well as the seasonal flu. The employer has violated the collective agreement.

As of December 31, 2009, the Canada Post Corporation (the employer) has decided to stop accepting and/or processing new requests regarding the contractor start date of rural and suburban mail carriers (RSMC) hired as employees on January 1st, 2004 (contract holders, sub-contractors, replacements or helpers) for the purpose of establishing the seniority ranking of RSMCs. The employer is violating the provisions of the collective agreement and the established practice.

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers grieves the Canada Post Corporation's actions with regard to compulsory overtime for Group 2 employees. Contrary to the provisions of clause 15.14 of the collective agreement, the Corporation has not taken any steps to minimize the amount of overtime employees are forced to work. More specifically, but not limited to, the Corporation fails to use temporary workers or other types of employees or people who could volunteer to do the work in lieu of Group 2 employees. In addition to violating clause 15.14, the Corporation's actions, in certain cases, could lead to grave and serious risks to the health and safety of employees who are forced to work overtime for too many hours in a day or week. Moreover, the Corporation's actions deprive temporary employees of hours of work to which they are entitled.

On October 26, 2009, the employer advised the Union that all employees who are hired by Canada Post on or after November 1, 2009 and who later meet the eligibility criteria will be required to pay for 100% of the premiums for the retiree dental plan. In addition, effective November 1, 2009, all employees who are hired by Canada Post on or after November 1, 2009 who are residents of British Columbia (BC) will no longer be reimbursed for the BC provincial Medical Insurance Plan Premium (Medical Services Plan of British Columbia) once they retire. The employer is violating the provisions of the collective agreement and/or the relevant laws and regulations.

Canada Post has altered the duties of the Rural and Suburban Mail Carriers (RSMC) by ordering the delivery of personal contacts items (PCI) and (CMB) lock and key replacement delivery notice cards (DNC) to points of call located at more than 0.5 km off the line of travel. Canada Post has incorrectly applied Appendix ‘’A’’ for remuneration for these duties. Canada Post unilaterally made this decision without negotiating to determine fair and just compensation for this work. This is contrary to the provisions of the Collective Agreement, articles 11 and 13 and Appendix ‘’A’’ as well as any other provisions of the Collective Agreement and the Route Management System (RMS).

On or about August 18, 2009, Canada Post advised the Union that it was sending all rural and suburban mail carriers (RSMCs) an information package regarding the security screening of replacement contractors and others carrying out duties on RSMC routes. In this material, Canada Post requires RSMCs to carry out a series of steps to confirm the security status of contractors used as replacements. Among other measures, Canada Post requires RSMCs to give their replacements helpers or ergo assistants the documents and instructions needed to initiate the security clearance process and make sure the latter have read the instructions carefully, completed specified forms and provided finger prints. In doing so, Canada Post is violating the provisions of the collective agreement, and, specifically, Article 14, by assigning RSMCs duties not provided for in the collective agreement, thus unilaterally and illegally changing the provisions of the collective agreement.

The employer is structuring routes of more than forty (40) hours of work per week, which is a violation of the Rural and Suburban Mail Carriers (RSMC) collective agreement, more specifically clause 11.04.

CUPW grieves that, in Vancouver and Richmond on June 25th and June 26th, 2009, the Corporation interfered in the representation of employees by CUPW and violated the provisions of clauses 3.01, 3.02, 3.04, 5.01, and others of the Collective Agreement in engaging in discussions with employees regarding working conditions, in denying CUPW representatives access to postal installation, in discriminating against them by reason of activities in the Union and by physically assaulting them. In addition, the interference by the Corporation in the representation of employees is also in violation of previous and binding arbitral awards between the parties.

The Canada Post Corporation (CPC) is organizing meetings with the employees during working hours. At these meetings, the employer is encouraging discussions and is discussing working conditions with the employees in the bargaining unit. The employer is violating Article 3 and others of the collective agreement as well as the relevant legislation.

CUPW grieves that on or about July 13, 2009 and ongoing in Halifax, the Corporation interfered in the representation of employees by CUPW and violated the provisions of clauses 3.01, 3.02, 3.04, 5.01, and others of the Collective Agreement and the provisions of the Canada Labour Code in denying the President of the Nova Local, Lori Stacey, access to the Halifax Metro Postal Plant. In addition, the interference by the Corporation in the representation of employees is also in violation of previous and binding arbitral awards between the parties.

On Thursday, April 9, 2009, the Union learned through its members that the employer had given employees of the rural and suburban mail carriers (RSMC) unit a $50 gift card. The employer did this in such a way as to avoid consulting the Union. As a result, Canada Post has violated the RSMC collective agreement, and, specifically but not exclusively, Articles 3 and 7 of the RSMC collective agreement

CUPW grieves that, in Vancouver and Richmond, on June 25th and 26th, 2009, the Corporation interfered in the representation of employees by CUPW and violated the provisions of clauses 3.01, 3.02, 3.04, 5.01, and others of the Collective Agreement in engaging in discussions with employees regarding working conditions and benefits, in denying CUPW representatives the right to participate in such discussions, in denying CUPW representatives access to such discussions and postal installations in which they were held, by discriminating against them by reason of activity in the Union and by physically assaulting them. CUPW grieves that on or about July 9, 2009, and ongoing, the Corporation has further interfered in the representation of employees by CUPW and violated the provisions of clauses 3.04, 5.01 and others of the Collective Agreement by barring access by Ken Mooney, Regional Grievance Officer of the Pacific Regional Office of CUPW, to the non-public areas of all Canada Post facilities in the Pacific Region for a period of five months.