FEMINISM/ CANADIAN LABOUR:

EQUAL PAY LAWSUIT SETTLED IN FAVOUR OF WORKERS- 28 YEARS LATER:

Here's an interesting item from the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) about a lawsuit initiated 28 years ago demanding equal pay for equal work at Canada Post. I heard about this decision while driving about the city for work today. The internet and print reports add little to the initial report. Basically a 28 year lawsuit was recently settled over different wages paid to women as opposed to men decades ago. Well thanks guys ! There is a lot to be said both pro and con about this decision, but let us assume a sympathy for workers' position. All that Molly can ask is whether this matter would have taken 28 years to resolve if the workers in question had applied direct action ways of pressuring the government ie direct action? It's a thought to think. Here's the bare bones from the Cape Breton Post.

OTTAWA (CP) —

The Supreme Court has handed the Public Service Alliance of Canada a victory in a marathon dispute over pay equity with Canada Post.
Topics :
Canada Post , Supreme Court , Canadian Human Rights Tribunal
In a rare ruling from the bench Thursday, the justices unanimously found for the union in a case that began a generation ago.

PSAC claimed in August 1983 that women were being discriminated against under the Canadian Human Rights Act because they made less than men in comparable Canada Post jobs.
After more than a decade of hearings, the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal ruled in 2005 that the crown corporation had violated the act and awarded back pay and interest of about $150 million.

But the Federal Court of Appeal set aside the tribunal’s decision, saying the finding of discrimination was not supported.

The justices said reasons for their decision will be available later.

CANADIAN LABOUR:

CUPW ORGANIZES PHARMACY POSTAL EMPLOYEES:

It's been a long standing policy of Canada Post to remove actual post offices and place outlets in such places as 7-11s and pharmacies. This, of course, reduces costs, as the employees in such places work for minimum wage and have no benefits. Those of us who use the postal service, however, know that the level of service to the public is considerably reduced. The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW), however, has had a long standing campaign to organize the employees in pharmacies so that they can achieve wages beyond the minimum. A side effect of such organization would be that service to the public would be improved. Here's a press release from CUPW about their campaign..

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CUPW fights Canada Post's "cheap labour strategy" by organizing its postal employees in pharmacies
MONTREAL, March 1 /CNW/ - Over 2000 Canada Post counters are now open for business in pharmacies. That number is growing as Canada Post continues to open more counters in pharmacies across the country.

That's why the union representing postal workers has been busy persuading employees working at postal counters in Shoppers Drug Mart, Pharmaprix, Familiprix and Uniprix stores to join its 55,000-strong ranks.

So far, the organizing drive has resulted in 211 employees in Montreal and Saskatoon joining the Canadian Union of Postal Workers. On February 28, CUPW's Quebec region filed an application on behalf of 25 more workers at Familiprix. If the application is successful, this will raise the number of unionized postal counters in pharmacies to 51 and counting.

"Although they handle mail and do the same work we do, the people working in these outlets earn the minimum wage and have precarious jobs," pointed out Jacques Valiquette, National Director for the Montreal region of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers. "As negotiations between Canada Post and CUPW continue, we want labour standards to improve for all postal workers."

In response to the organizing drive, Canada Post and the major pharmacy chains have hired a small army of lawyers to argue that the Crown Corporation has nothing to do with employing these postal clerks. But CUPW vows to keep on signing them up.

"Organizing is a win-win situation," said Valiquette. "Postal workers at these counters will be able to make improvements in their working lives and Canada Post will not be able to use a cheap labour strategy to undermine our collective agreements."


For further information:
contact Aalya Ahmad, 613-327-1177

CANADIAN LABOUR:

MAYBE BY UKRAINIAN CHRISTMAS:

Two more days to go until Christmas by the Julian calender, known in these parts as "Ukrainian Christmas". Yet down in the post offices of Winnipeg Christmas packages meant to be delivered by December 25th still sit undelivered according to the following article from the Winnipeg Free Press. The reason...the so-called "improvements" mandated by Canada Post management, "improvements" that have been discussed before at this blog and at The Workers' Struggle With The Modern Post blog by postal workers here in Winnipeg. This "modernisation" is one that Canada Post hopes to apply across the country. Because of this Winnipeg workers have received support from other Canada Post workers across the country in their struggle to prevent what is not just against their own interests but against those of the general public. As the backlog in Winnipeg demonstrates. Here's the story from the local press.

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Christmas gifts undelivered: CUPW
By: Katie Dangerfield

Thousands of Christmas packages sat undelivered in the former downtown post office as late as New Year's Eve, a local union official said.

"A good chunk of the parcels sitting in the 266 Graham Ave. building are Christmas wrapped," said Bob Tyer, president of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers.

Missing presents?
Are you missing Christmas presents you were expecting in the mail? If so call the Free Press at 697-7292 or email city.desk@freepress.mb.ca .


Since the introduction of Canada Post's modern delivery system in September, Tyer said there has been a considerable backup of undelivered mail -- especially during the holidays.

During the New Year's weekend, Canada Post employees were set to work overtime s to catch up on deliveries, Tyler said.

This fall, Canada Post introduced what it called a new, more efficient delivery system designed to cut costs. The new system requires letter carriers to carry two bundles of mail, instead of one. Routes and work days are also longer.

Some Winnipeg letter carriers went on strike in November to protest against the new system. Carriers have said it can cause back and neck injuries.

A spokeswoman for Canada Post, Anick Losier, said in an email that the corporation's employees are still adjusting to the new system.

"We just finished our busiest time of year," said Losier. "Our volumes in Winnipeg reached over 1.4 million pieces of mail daily, while normally it is just under one million pieces."

"We even had our people ensure all holiday-themed packages and cards were delivered to customers on time for the holidays," she said.

Tyer said mail service in Winnipeg wasn't as smooth as Losier makes it sound. Since the new system was implemented, the corporation "doesn't care if they don't cover all their routes anymore," he said.

One Winnipeg post office employee who asked not to be named said the corporation is sweeping its problems under a rug, hoping they will go away,

"At one of the depots, supervisors were throwing out 300 to 400 flyers that were a day late, instead of delivering them," the employee said.

Tyer said Canada Post has had countless complaints from businesses and employees regarding the new system, but Losier said the changes were necessary "to help our company stay efficient and viable."

"That's what will protect the future of the company and our employees' incomes and pensions," said Losier.

Tyer said that since September staff injuries have risen "astronomically," and Canada Post has not hired enough people to fill vacancies due to injury and staff retirements.

During the holiday rush, Canada Post brought in retirees and supervisors from across the country to deliver the additional mail.

katie.dangerfield@freepress.mb.ca

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Meanwhile the national Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) has been circulating a petition for some months asking that the Canadian postal system be strengthened rather than destroyed (perhaps the "modernization" is really part of some long term plan for "privatization"). Please go to their website or this link to sign the following petition to your MP and to the federal Minister in charge of Canada Post. And don't forget to keep up to date on what is happening out here on the windswept prairies by reading The Workers Struggle With The Modern Post.
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Please tell Minister Merrifield: Stop cutting public postal service and jobs
I am writing, as both a user and an owner of Canada Post, to voice my concern about the future of our public post office.

Canada Post has plans to cut thousands of jobs in hundreds of communities across the country by modernizing and reviewing its operations and privatizing philatelic and call centres. The corporation is also cutting services by eliminating rural mail box delivery, closing post offices and removing street letter boxes.

To me, these cuts indicate that Canada Post is focusing increasingly on commercial interests, rather than the public interest.

I believe that Canada Post, as a public institution, should put the public interest first. One of the ways it could do this is by sharing the benefits of its $2 billion modernization program. At the moment, Canada Post intends to use all the productivity gains from this program to cut jobs and save millions annually. This is our post office -- the public should share in the benefits too.

Please tell Rob Merrifield, the Minister responsible for Canada Post, to instruct the corporation to:

1) Put the public interest first.
2) Share the benefits of postal modernization with the public by preserving and improving public postal service and jobs.

CANADIAN LABOUR WINNIPEG:

DIRECT ACTION AND CUPW WINNIPEG LOCAL 856:

Great new interview on Black Mask Radio with two Winnipeg posties about the direct action tactics they have used in their struggle with Canada Post's "test scheme for speedup" here in Winnipeg. Go to the Winnipeg Wobbly Blog to access the file. Also keep up to date with the struggle at The Workers Struggle With The Modern Post blog.

CANADIAN LABOUR WINNIPEG:

SUPPORT WINNIPEG LETTER CARRIERS POSTER:

The graphic shown here is the new support poster for Winnipeg letter carriers who recently staged wildcat walkouts to protest Canada Post's mad management scheme of "double bundling". Go to the The Workers' Struggle With The Modern Post blog for up-to-the-minute news on this important struggle.

CANADIAN LABOUR WINNIPEG:
WINNIPEG WILDCAT AT CANADA POST:


After weeks of frustration and gradually building tension workers at several Winnipeg Canada Post depots walked out today. The precipitating cause is a new mail sorting and delivery system, actually a wild management scheme that pushed the concept of speedup to the point of disastrous confusion in terms of service and heights of injury on the part of the workers. At the Wilkes depot one worker was disciplined for refusing the new system and sorting his mail in the traditional fashion. The other workers walked out in solidarity with him. On the radio today management a spokesman gave his version of the dispute, basically totally ignoring both the complaints of the workers and the chaos in mail delivery (or non-delivery) that the scheme has caused. His line was "change is always difficult, and some people have a problem with change". I kid you not ! That is the sort of psychobabble that they teach in schools of management in lieu of actually having any useful skill to impart to order givers.

Here's how the strike was reported by the Financial Post.

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Canada Post face wildcat strike in Winnipeg

Don Healy/Postmedia News
In implementing its modernized methods of sorting and delivering mail, part of the corporation’s transformation project, Canada Post has been facing resistance from employees in Winnipeg, the first city to operate under the new “two-bundle” system.
Tim Shufelt, Financial Post · Sunday, Nov. 21, 2010

Dozens of letter carriers walked off the job in Winnipeg on Monday in protest over a new mail delivery method they call unsafe.

In implementing its modernized methods of sorting and delivering mail, part of the corporation’s transformation project, Canada Post has been facing resistance from employees in Winnipeg, the first city to operate under the new “two-bundle” system.

When one worker refused to follow the new rules, he was cited for insubordination and immediately suspended. Dozens of other carriers from the mail depot — 76 in total — then walked out in solidarity.

About 15% of the city’s routes were affected, said Jon Hamilton, a spokesman for Canada Post.

The new system requires the employee to carry a second bundle of mail on their forearm. But that method obscures the feet from view, causing falls and injuries, and results in back and neck pain, said Bob Tyre, head of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers’ Winnipeg local.

“Our letter carriers tell us it’s absolutely and completely unsafe,” Mr. Tyre said, noting that after just a month in use, the two-bundle system is much hated among employees. “The number of injuries have skyrocketed since then.”

Mr. Hamilton said the delivery process is currently subject to arbitration.

“There are other avenues where the union could address their concerns, make their views known without hurting or impacting service to Canadians and the businesses that depend on us,” he said.

And he insisted that Canada Post needs to evolve to improve efficiency and to reflect the changing behaviours of Canadians when it comes to mail. In the last four years alone, mail volume fell by more than 11% in Canada, he said.

“We need to make changes in order to maintain the service that Canadians depend on and also be able to secure the future for employees in terms of their pensions and job security and their wages,” he said. “This isn’t just a change for change’s sake.”

But Denis Lemelin, CUPW’s national president, said the union and the corporation have a responsibility to ensure the safety of letter carriers.

“We’re telling the employer they have to stop this new method and maybe sit with the union and find a new way to address the issue,” he said, noting that complaints are also starting to come in from employees in other parts of the country, as Canada Post rolls out the new system to Toronto, Montreal, Halifax, and, eventually, the rest of the country.

Meanwhile, in Winnipeg, it’s unclear how long the mail disruption might continue.

Mr. Tyre said his colleagues will not abide the two-bundle system any longer. “They’re pretty irate. I don’t know what they’re going to do tomorrow.”
..

Read more: http://www.financialpost.com/news/Canada+Post+face+wildcat+strike+Winnipeg/3868455/story.html#ixzz164pPLlfj

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Here's how the walkout was reported by the CBC.
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Canada Post employees walk out

About 40 Canada Post employees walked off the job Monday to show solidarity with a worker who was suspended for flouting the new mail-sorting methods. (CBC)
Dozens of Canada Post employees in Winnipeg walked off the job Monday to protest a change in the mail-sorting procedure.

Canada Post's website says the corporation is undergoing a "postal transformation," and Winnipeg is the first location rolling out new sorting equipment and delivery methods before they're implemented across the country.

The new, automated way results in postal carriers having to carry three bags along their routes. Under the old sorting method, done by hand, carriers ended up with two bundles because the sorters were able to combine flyers with mail destined for each place of delivery.

A man sorting the mail the old way on Monday at the Wilkes Avenue facility was suspended, according to Bob Tyre, head of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers' Winnipeg local.

That prompted 40 other employees at the facility to walk out in solidarity.

"They [Canada Post] suspended him on the spot. And the other carriers decided that that was the line in the sand and they left, too," Tyre said.

About 60 carriers at the downtown sorting plant then left their jobs for similar reasons, but only walked out for about a half-hour, said Tyre.

He noted seven carriers at the Transcona plant were also threatened with suspension for sorting mail the old way.

Workplace injuries
Tyre said the new procedure is causing an increase in workplace injuries and slowing down mail delivery.

Carrying the three bags "makes walking treacherous [and is] hard on their necks and their backs," he said, adding "there's been a skyrocketing increase in injuries.

'They've gotten nowhere with Canada Post, so they just decided that they can't work that way and they went home.'
—Bob Tyre, Canadian Union of Postal Workers"And [the carriers] have tried to, and the union has as well, talk to Canada Post about the delivery method, how it's causing injuries, and it's not safe and it slows the delivery down on the streets, so they're all working overtime. They've been working that way now for about six weeks.

"And they've gotten nowhere with Canada Post, so they just decided that they can't work that way and they went home."

Canada Post spokesman John Hamilton said the corporation is still working out the bugs on the new sorting equipment and hopes employees will adapt to the change.

"The simple fact is that this is a big change, not everybody likes change, and there are going to be some issues from time to time," he said.

He would not discuss whether any disciplinary action would be taken against the workers who walked out.

Last week, Winnipeg Liberal MP Anita Neville said she has been inundated with complaints from people in her Winnipeg South Centre riding because mail has been arriving late or not at all.

One seniors residence with 183 units had no mail for three days, she said.


Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba/story/2010/11/22/mb-canada-post-dispute-winnipeg.html#ixzz1652xUEUm

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Two local blogs here in Winnipeg are following these events closely. One is the Winnipeg Wobbly Blog, the local organ of Winnipeg's IWW. The other has been featured here before. The Workers' Struggle With The Modern Post is a blog set up by members of CUPW here in Winnipeg, and it has been reporting the problems with Canada Post's weird little experiment for the past month. This blog is the best source for up to the minute news about what is happening with the post and the struggle that Winnipeg posties are fighting. Unfiltered through the mass media of course.



The Workers' Struggle blog has received numerous expressions of support from both other postal workers across the country and members of the general public. Even internationally. Feel free to send them your greetings of solidarity. Winnipeg is a "test case" for a management scheme backed by a government that would be more than happy to see the public postal system destroyed entirely.If the Winnipeg posties lose than postal workers across the country lose, and in the end the general public loses as well.

Here's a report on the job actions today from the Workers' Struggle blog. Make sure to check in there tomorrow as the struggle continues.
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Monday, November 22, 2010

Here is a more detailed look at today's actions
After weeks of struggling to work under the employers' new delivery model, Winnipeg letter carriers have reached the breaking point. The multiple bundle delivery method imposed by the boss has resulted in many members sustaining injuries and has made the work dangerous and unsafe.

Over assessed routes and the refusal to provide proper time values for all of the work performed has resulted in many carriers being forced to work overtime to complete delivery. So far, the employer has refused to take any concrete measures to resolve the concerns of the membership.

This morning at the South West Depot, wave 1 letter carriers decided that the safest way to perform their work was to sort the sequenced mail into their cases and deliver with 1 bundle on the street. Members were ordered by the boss to cease the sequenced mail sortation and when 1 temporary letter carrier refused to comply, he was advised that he was being suspended. Other members in the depot left the work floor in support of the disciplined worker and refused to work as dictated by the boss. After a brief coffee meeting in the parking lot, the members then went home.

The second wave for South West reported for work and learned of the earlier events and made the decision to support one another, refuse the dangerous work method and go home for the day.

Meanwhile, in the other corner of the city, wave 1 letter carriers in the Transcona depot also made the decision to sort their sequenced mail into their cases. The employer did not prevent them from doing so and those workers then left and commenced their delivery. When wave 2 reported for duty, they attempted to sort in their sequenced mail and were advised by the employer that they could not do so and would face a 5 day suspension if they disobeyed. These members then invoked their right to refuse the unsafe work method and are still in the office. The employer has not issued any further instructions or orders to them. Our stewards are working with those members in the article 33 process.

Will the employer escalate the situation and respond with heavy handed discipline or will they realize that its time to put the health and safety of workers ahead of the unworkable new delivery model?

It's time for all us to stand up and demand a safe workplace and a 1 bundle delivery method.

An Injury to One is An Injury to All.

Solidarity,

CANADIAN LABOUR WINNIPEG:

THE WORKERS' STRUGGLE WITH THE MODERN POST:

I've been meaning to highlight this local blog for some time. The Workers Struggle With the Modern Post is a blog set up by a militant in Local 856 of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) here in Winnipeg. It has the approval of the Local. I've been following this blog for some time, and I've been very impressed by what I saw there. The "modern post" model, also called the "multi bundle delivery model", is a management scheme whereby there will be a speedup in processing at mail depots and also a change whereby individual mail carriers will be responsible for delivering not just ordinary mail but also parcels. This will involve a shift to vehicle delivery as opposed to the present walking mail delivery. It also involves a lenghtening of the workday. This "model" is being tried out here in Winnipeg before being implemented across the country. Front line postal workers have a different opinion about its effectiveness than management has.

The blog in question was set up to oppose this change, but its circle of concerns has expanded far beyond the original intent to embrace other matters of working conditions at Canada Post as well as the effect of the changes on the public. In terms of the latter here is a recent post from the blogsite. Please go to the original blog to read all of the many expressions of discontent of the employees of Canada Post here in this city.

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Customer Service? What is that?
I am a concerned carrier out of SW Depot - i would like to hear some thoughts on the situation that has occurred on a daily basis for more than a week at SW - NON DELIVERY OF MAIL!!! It was not too long ago that even one letter left in a turnaround case could mean discipline to any one carrier. We now have entire routes not being delivered on a daily basis - Priors, Expresspost, registers etc remaining often for days in our Depot. What has become a priority for CPC - obviously not customer service. Has CPC put a freeze on hiring? A freeze on training new staff for all aspects of the job ( ie driving - VOP )? It astounds me that this new "delivery model" of CPC's was touted as "improving service to have only one employee doing all aspects of delivery/pickup for CPC in a given area". Well if the public only knew what deterioration has come from "Modern Post" they would be in an uproar. Daily, entire routes are not delivered, portions of others for days at a time, and Priors, Express Post and other expensive service options such as Registered and Re-Direct mail are left behind! What is CPC trying to do to this company? Is this really a purpose full self destruction of CPC - if so, we all better ready ourselves for a dismal financial future for CPC.... our jobs and our pensions with this company. Worried at SW.

CANADIAN LABOUR:

PROTEST CANADA POST CALL CENTRE PRIVATIZATION:

Plans on the part of Canada Post to privatize its customer service call centres have stirred up protests from the workers involved. Here is the basic story from the CBC.

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Planned Canada Post cuts draw union's ire

Plans by Canada Post to privatize its customer service call centres in cities across Canada are drawing fire from one of the country's largest unions.

The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), representing more than 165,000 public-sector workers, has pledged to combat the move, which is expected to result in the loss of 300 jobs across the country.

Call centres in Fredericton, Ottawa, Winnipeg and Edmonton are affected. The centres handle telephone inquiries from the public about postage rates and parcel tracking.

Canada Post's National Philatelic Centre in Antigonish, N.S., will also close, affecting about 70 jobs. The centre sells stamps from several other postal agencies around the world.

The Crown corporation said on Thursday that decreasing mail volumes prompted the cuts, which are slated to take place in 2011 after selected workers' contracts expire.

No full-time workers will be laid off, and the call centres will not be outsourced to overseas locations, a Canada Post spokesperson said.

In Manitoba, as many as 30 temporary employees at Canada Post's Winnipeg-based call depot will not have their contracts renewed. About 70 other permanent staff will move to other jobs with the Crown corporation.

Data for the other centres was not immediately available.

Privacy concerns raised
PSAC spokeswoman Janet May told CBC News that the changes are part of a broader effort by Canada Post management to move the company further toward complete privatization.

"Canada Post is in its 15th year of profit," May said. "So to an average Canadian, does it make sense that part of your postal system is getting privatized?"

The union said it also worries about the loss of people's privacy if they have to offer up personal information to a private company — especially if the call-centre work is outsourced to a U.S. company.

"I'm not sure that Canadians are ready to see their postal service become an information collection agency for the American government," said Robyn Benson, PSAC's executive vice-president for the Prairies.


Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2010/04/01/man-canada-post-cuts-call-centre.html#ixzz0kA223Zrt

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Here's how the situation is viewed by the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) who represent many of the workers employed in the customer service call centres. Here's the press release from their website.

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Canada Post to privatize 300 contact centre jobs across Canada

Ottawa—The Public Service Alliance of Canada, the largest federal public service union in the country, will be taking swift action to prevent Canada Post from privatizing an important part of its operations. Yesterday, the crown corporation announced that it would outsource its contact centres and the National Philatelic Centre, resulting in the elimination of more than 300 jobs across the country.


Affected locations include:

Edmonton
Ottawa
Winnipeg
Antigonish
Fredericton
“This obsession with privatization will badly damage the quality of the Canadian postal service as well as the communities it serves,” said Robyn Benson, the PSAC Regional Executive Vice-President for the Prairies. “Many regions in the country will lose local contact with Canada Post as well as jobs that are important for the local economy,” she added.

For Benson, the privatization of Canada Post’s answering services also raises the question of protection of confidential information provided by Canadians.

“I’m not sure that Canadians are ready to see their postal service become an information collection agency for the American government,’ Benson said. “If an American company answers calls for Canada Post, then the U.S. Patriot Act gives the government access to all information the company collects. Is that what Canadians want?”

Richard Deslauriers, the National President of PSAC component, the Union of Postal and Communications Employees (UPCE) said this type of economic reasoning will bring Canada Post closer to a complete privatization.

“The privatization of Canada Post has always been an objective of the current management and the conservative federal government,” Deslauriers said. “The slippery slope of partial privatization of services will end up with Canada Post in the hands of private companies and Canadians will be deprived of a service they have relied on for decades”.

The PSAC represents more than 166,000 members across the country including 2,000 at Canada Post.

To arrange media interviews:

Alain Cossette, PSAC Communications, 613-293-9210

CANADIAN LABOUR-PORTAGE LA PRAIRIE:

PORTAGE POSTIES PROTEST PUBLIC PULL-OUT:

Postal workers in Portage la Prairie Manitoba, a small city about 50 kms west of Winnipeg, are protesting the recent decision by Canada Post to reduce public service at the main office in Portage. As the following from Portage On-Line makes plain this will not save Canada Post any money, but it is definitely in line with the long standing desire of the Federal Conservatives to destroy Canada Post, however much inconvenience that may cost smaller communities. Or, of course, is could be simply an example of "management muscle-flexing" whereby managers, who are usually as useful as tits on a boar, try to justify their existence by making a change, any change whatsoever whether it makes sense or not. Truly wise managers realize the futility of their work existence and cruise through to retirement while doing as little as possible and letting those who know the job get on with it. The Portage posties are represented by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW).

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Postal Workers Union Upset With Service Cutback
The recent decision by Canada Post to reduce the hours of its "Call For" services at Portage's main post office isn't sitting well with the Canadian Union of Postal Workers.

Todd Jarema, regional union representative for all CUPW offices in Manitoba, says they've been told the move is to bring the service in line with other offices around the province, but notes the union sees it instead as a blatant service cutback.

Jarema notes the folks who had been handling the "Call For" service will still be working in the building during those hours, so closing the wicket is of no real financial benefit to Canada Post.

He adds rural customers and business people who can't make it to the main post office between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. no longer have the opportunity to get parcels, registered letters or C.O.D. items after hours.

Jarema says CUPW has put together a mailer for affected customers, asking Portage-Lisgar MP Candice Hoeppner to try and reverse Canada Post's decision.

CANADIAN LABOUR:

UNION CHARGES CANADA POST WITH UNFAIR LABOUR PRACTICES:

The following press release is from the website of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC).

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Canada Post charged with unfair labour practices :
Charges include issueing misleading statements to its employees, disregarding provisions of the Canada Labour Code
OTTAWA, November 6, 2008 — Canada Post is resorting to unfair labour practices in its contract talks with the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) and the Union of Postal Communications Employees (UPCE), the union charges.

"Canada Post has issued misleading statements to its employees and is disregarding provisions of the Canada Labour Code," says John Gordon, President of the Public Service Alliance of Canada. PSAC is the bargaining agent representing the members of the component UPCE.

The misleading statements identified by Gordon appear in internal communications issued by the employer about a new short-term disability system that the corporation is trying to impose on its employees in order to replace existing sick leave and family leave provisions in the collective agreement.

On its internal website, which is accessible to all Canada Post employees, the employer indicates that changes to the sick leave and family leave provisions in the collective agreement will come into effect on January 1, 2010. This statement ignores the fact that these changes have not yet been negotiated with the union.

Canada Post's proposed changes are highly controversial. Union members provided their bargaining team with an 88 percent strike mandate, largely based on their opposition to these leave proposals.

The union charges that this unilateral imposition of terms and conditions of employment while the parties are still bargaining is a violation of the statutory freeze provisions of the Canada Labour Code and is contrary to the employer's obligation to bargain in good faith and make every reasonable effort to enter into a collective agreement.

The union also charges that the employer is trying to discredit the union by directly contacting UPCE-PSAC members via e-mail and providing misleading and erroneous statements with regards to events at the bargaining table.

Lastly, the union also charges that Canada Post has been withholding financial information specific to their new sick leave proposals despite repeated requests for this information.

The PSAC asked Canada Post to remove from its website all references to the unilateral implementation of the employer's bargaining proposals. The union is also demanding that the employer retract all false information conveyed to the membership in e-mails and to issue a statement on its internal website that reaffirms the employer's commitment to respect all sections of the Canada Labour Code and, in particular, the obligation to bargain in good faith and make every reasonable effort to enter into a collective agreement.

Canada Post's rejection of these requests has prompted the PSAC to file an unfair labour practices complaint with the Canada Industrial Relations Board.

Negotiations between Canada Post and the UPCE-PSAC began June 4, 2008.