Modern Post Update

The first national consultation with Canada Post since they issued the notices regarding Vancouver’s postal transformation (PT) was held on April 18th. There will be a series of national and local consultations scheduled with Canada Post management over the coming months to work on our concerns over the PT roll-out that will be starting to come online in February/March 2014.

A number of questions were put to the Corporation that they have indicated will be responded to in the future. They have stated that they do not possess key information yet, such as which depots will be moving into the two new buildings they purchased recently. Some of the details that were provided and concerns that we have raised are listed below. Continue reading “Modern Post: Update – April 22, 2013”

Canada Post Provides Some Details about New Vancouver Plant

There has been a great deal of concern expressed by our members regarding the recent news from Canada Post about the new Postal Transformation (PT) plant at the Richmond airport. The Pacific Processing Centre (PPC) is slated to open in February 2014 with the Vancouver Parcel Delivery Centre (VPDC) moving in first, followed by the Vancouver Mail Processing Plant (VMPP) in March 2014.

The Corporation served the Union with an official notice on April 9th regarding the new plant. This notice details some of Canada Post’s plans for the new facility along with its projections for significant Group 1 staffing reductions. There has not been any consultation on this notice as yet; the first meeting is scheduled for April 18th. We will provide you with updates as they become available.

Please see the CUPW Pacific Region’s bulletin dated April 15, 2013 for more specific details about this notice; it has been distributed to Vancouver Local bulletin boards and Shop Stewards. The most current information can also be found here on the Vancouver Local website.

Continue reading “Canada Post Provides Some Details about New Vancouver Plant”

Staff reductions not service improvements the goal of the modern post.

On April 9, 2013, the employer served notice of technological change as per article 29.03(b) of the collective agreement. The notice refers to the new plant currently under construction on YVR land in Richmond and can be read in its entirety by clicking on the link on the left.

Article 29.03(b) states that the employer must provide the Union with a “detailed description of the project it intends to carry out, disclosing all foreseeable effects and repercussions on employees“. 29.04 describes the pertinent information that must be provided in the notice including “(c) the approximate number, type and location of employees likely to be affected by the change“.

Article 29.05 says that the Union will meet with the employer within the “next fifteen (15) calendar days to hold constructive and meaningful consultations in an effort to reach agreement on solutions to the problems arising from this change“.

The 29.03(b) notice says that there will be a loss of 247 full time PO4 positions, 63 full time PO5 positions and 1 full time PO2 with increases of only 130 part time PO4 and 7 part time PO5 positions. The notice also says there will 15 Technical Services positions added.

While those numbers look even worse than what was expected, we have to keep in mind that a 29.03(b) notice is the employer’s starting position as both parties enter into consultation. Canada Post has not been able to achieve their staff reduction goals in any of the locations that have already been through this process.

Also, although we made some major concessions by ratifying the new contract, there were no concessions made in the job security provisions that existed in the previous collective agreement. The protection provided by article 53 remains.