Katherine Poch (Katie)
Zoe McGowan
Rodrick Prasad
Cristina MacLennan
Sunil Sharma
Maria Tee
Navneet Singh Dhillon
Karanjit Singh Sandhu
In Solidarity,
Anju Parmar, President
Transgender Day of Visibility
Friday, March 31st, 2023
The Vancouver Local is celebrating Transgender Day of Visibility by saying unequivocally:
We See You. We Support You.
“It is revolutionary for any trans person to choose to be seen and visible in a world that tells us we should not exist” -Laverne Cox
With more visibility comes more understanding. We acknowledge that transgender still people face many barriers in accessing housing, healthcare and employment. In addition, they still face discrimination, harassment, transphobia and attacks from far-right public figures and media outlets.
1 in 300 Canadians over the age of 15 identify as transgender or non-binary
1 in 150 Canadians age 15 to 34 identify as transgender or non-binary
1 in 100 Canadians age 20 to 24 identify as transgender or non-binary
As the stigmas are removed from our society, more and more people feel comfortable in coming out and expressing their true gender identity
Source: Statistics Canada
Over time, the acceptance and understanding of gender and sexual diversity has evolved. There have also been great advances in the social and legislative recognition of LGBTQ2SIA+ people, but the struggle for equality and legal protections against discrimination continues.
lb/CUPE-3338
ELECTIONS 2023
Any member who voted on Sunday, March 19th and did not receive a ballot for shop steward may affirm on their honour at the balloting table that they did not receive a ballot, and will be provided with a shop steward ballot for their shift.
Only those who voted on Sunday, March 19th and did not receive a shop steward ballot will be eligible to affirm and receive a shop steward ballot for their shift.
This ONLY applies to shop steward ballots.
ALL MEMBERS FROM ANY SHIFT will be able to vote for their President, 2nd Vice President and Shop Stewards from Tuesday, March 21st at 11:30 PM to Thursday, March 23rd at 12:30 AM.
Please confirm with the balloting volunteers that your Shop Steward ballot is placed in the correct box for your shift.
Vancouver Local 846 Balloting Committee
Rumours vs. Facts
During this election campaign, there have been a number of rumours, inaccuracies and misconceptions about our local and how it operates. Having heard some of these rumours, the Vancouver Local Executive would like to set the record straight so that members are basing their decisions on accurate information.
Rumour: Officers are able to campaign on union paid time
Fact: Officers running for another term are campaigning on their personal time. All of their time off is documented and reviewed by the trustee’s committee.
Rumour: There is only one sole legal representative of CUPW
Fact: CUPW Executives and advocates are the only authorized representatives of the membership. CUPW will also contract outside legal services at a National and Regional level for interpretations of matters relating to the Canada Labour Code, Federal legislation, and other matters of concern to working conditions of Postal Workers
Rumour: The Local is misappropriating funds from the budget
Fact: Local finances are reviewed quarterly by the trustee’s committee, and the finances are audited annually by an outside chartered accountant, Culver & Co. The reports of the trustees and the auditor are shared at the General Membership Meeting for all members to review and ask questions before voting to approve the reports.
Article 9.30 of the National Constitution states-
9.30: The National Office shall prepare and supply an appropriate form for submission of an annual financial report by all Locals, except those using the services of a chartered accountant firm to audit their accounts and submit an annual financial statement.
A history of our union office and local dues assessment
The CUPW Vancouver Local has a rich and lengthy history, dating all the way back to the 1965 strike that formed the Union as we know it today. A lot of what has transpired in our past had a profound effect on the state of our Union today, and the direction it’s heading. In this bulletin, we offer a retrospective look at our Union office and local dues assessment in the context of past, present and future.
1980 – CUPW is a separate Union from LCUC (Letter Carrier’s Union of Canada). The Vancouver Local of CUPW passes a dues assessment of $4.50 per month ($16.57* in 2023 dollars)
1997 – It’s been 10 years since the merger of CUPW and LCUC. The Vancouver Local Executive put forward a motion to purchase a building in Vancouver for $1,000,000 ($1,711,902 in 2023 dollars). The General Membership Meeting where the motion was to be debated did not achieve quorum. Without a motion to purchase the building, another buyer snaps it up. The Vancouver Local rented an office downtown, and then when the lease was up, we moved to Burnaby. At the end of that lease, a flood in the office is accompanied by a noticeable odor of mold.
2023 Annual Elections
Nominations have now closed for the following positions on the Local Executive Committee:
President
Robyn Mann
Anju Parmar
2nd Vice President
Raylene Marshall
Joseph Rahim
Nominated and Acclaimed
Full Time Officer
Grievance Officer
Alan Dobbs
Table officers
Jamie McCurrach Education Director
Katie Poch Organizing Director
Zoe McGowan Recording Secretary
John Tweed Health & Safety Director
Chief Shop Stewards
Chief Shop Steward Internal PPC/PIFF/Wickets Shift 1
Zenaida Garcia
Chief Shop Steward External MSC
Joseph H McCance
Chief Shop Steward External LC (1 position)
Kayla Ziefflie
Chief Shop Steward GLT
Raj Deo
The schedule for the 2023 annual election will be presented in a future bulletin. Congratulations to those acclaimed to a position and good luck to those nominated.
In Solidarity,
Anju Parmar, President
Grievance Update
Over $70,000 win for our PPC Members
In December of 2018 the Vancouver Local filed a grievance against the Corporation for an obvious violation of article 39. Having attempted to advise the Corporation during the consultation process that their plan to bring in Temporary employees immediately following regular shift times for the month of December would be a violation of article:
39.05(f) Notwithstanding paragraph 39.05(c), regular full-time employees in the required classification and who are present at work will be offered overtime hours if temporary employees are at work in the full-time employees’ section in the two (2) hour period that immediately follows the end of their shift.
The Corporation decided to ignore our warnings and so a grievance was filed.
During that month most sections at the PPC were affected by this clear violation, as Temporary employees were assigned positions throughout the plant day in and day out. As a result of this, the Corporation continued to incur liability for bypassing the regular employees for their deserved overtime opportunities. The Corporation denied the grievance at the first level hearing stage and so we had to wait until the grievance was referred to an arbitrator before we could see some justice.
Because of the excellent work done very early on by sisters Anju Parmar and Erin Collins we were able to establish a very good case. This eventually led to Labour Relations agreeing with us that the Corporation did in fact violate the Collective Agreement and was liable for all of the missed opportunities. A lot of forensic work followed, trying to discover who was working where and how many people had been bypassed. This work took months of careful examination and negotiation with the Corporation. Sister Neerjha Bhatara helped us get this across the line by using her extensive knowledge with equal opportunity list management and her deep understanding of the internal workings at the PPC. And as a result, the Corporation has agreed to pay members for the missed overtime opportunities. This is a total amount that will be upwards of $70,000 payable to our members that had their rights abused by the Corporation. Once a MOA has been signed, members from VEO Inbound and Outbound, Parcels and Packets will be notified by the Union and the employer.
In Solidarity,
Alan Dobbs, Grievance Officer