During negotiations, CPAA and Canada Post Corporation were able to agree to virtually all items of the Collective Agreement. We agreed to allow arbitrator Michel Picher to decide the one remaining issue on which we could not agree: the wage rate in the first year of a five (5) year agreement.

On June 4, 2010, Arbitrator Picher issued his decision and awarded the wage proposal made by CPAA. This order took the place of a ratification process.

By now, you should have received a more detailed list of all the changes to the Collective Agreement, so this article will address some of the highlights of our new contract:

• Salary increase:

> Jan. 1, 2010 2.75%
> Jan. 1, 2011 1.9%
> Jan. 1, 2012 1.9%
> Jan. 1, 2013 1.9%
> Jan. 1, 2014 1.9%
Plus a re-opener for salary after the second year.


• An increase of 1% (to 4%) to the Corporate Achievement Bonus (CAB) for all Indeterminate CPAA members, and the inclusion of eligible Term employees to receive the CAB.

• An increase of 3% annually to the leasing allowance for Postmasters who provide premises.

• Increases to the Senior Assistant allowance equal to the annual percentage increases.

• Shift premiums will increase to $1.15 and weekend premiums to $1.40.

• Part-time employees and Group Postmasters will now be entitled to shift and weekend premiums.

• A Short-Term Disability Program (STDP) that provides income protection for illness and accident or hospitalization. Members will be able to retain and use banked sick leave and those with one hundred and fifty (150) days or more in their sick leave bank will receive a one-time recognition payment.

• Eligible employees will be provided with up to seven (7) Personal Days per year to be used at their discretion, to cover single day illnesses, personal or family appointments, family-related or other personal issues or the waiting period for Short-Term Disability Benefits.

• Up to five (5) unused Personal Days can be paid out at the end of fiscal year, or can be carried over to the following year.

• Introduction of a single-tier controlled drug formulary that would pay 80% of the cost of medications included on an approved list (at least one prescribed drug would continue to be covered for all illnesses and medical conditions that were previously covered).

• Any drug claimed by an individual and reimbursed in the twelve (12) months immediately prior to the implementation date will continue to be eligible for this individual even if the drug is not on the updated list. Employees will have the ability to apply for an exception should they require a drug not covered by the formulary.

• Improvements to the Hearing, Vision and Paramedical Benefits coverage.

• Coverage for eye laser surgery.

• Offices with level 6 Postmasters with over one hundred (100) allocated hours will have a Senior Assistant.

• Canada Post will provide uniforms to Group Postmasters who do not engage in other employment or conduct other business in the post office.

• Employees acting in a Senior Assistant position will receive acting pay starting on the first full eight (8) hour shift.

• Increased transfer rights for Senior Assistants.

• Increased Emergency Out-of-Province Medical Care coverage for all active employees (from $100,000 to $250,000).

• The seventh (7th) week of annual leave grandfathered for all who were employees prior to January 1, 2011 and have been continuously employed after that date.

• An annual supplemental allowance will be paid to Postmasters who provide the premises for the post office to offset the costs related to operating the office (e.g. insurance and telephone). Postmasters will receive up to $700 annually, to a total maximum of $420,000 for the bargaining unit.

We are in the process of reviewing all the final documentation. Based on conversations with Canada Post, you should receive a copy of the Collective Agreement shortly into the New Year. Please remember that it is Canada Post's responsibility to provide you with a copy of the Collective Agreement. If you do not receive one, please contact your Local Area Manager/Supervisor and request a copy.

Anyone who is entitled to retro pay, including inactive and retirees, will receive it on October 28th 2010.

Here is a draft copy of the new collective agreement.

The Negotiating Teams of the Canada Post Corporation and the Canadian Postmasters and Assistant Association met on the afternoon of August 16, 2010, to sign the new collective agreement. You will remember from previous communications that Arbitrator Michel Picher made the final decision on the only issue on which the parties could not agree, which was salary increases. Because we had to go to final offer, there will not be a ratification vote. The agreement becomes effective on the date of signing, unless otherwise indicated in the agreement.

CPAA and Canada Post are working quickly toward signing the new Collective Agreement. As soon as it is signed the Corporation will take the steps to make the payments we negotiated, retroactively.

Some changes are in effect from June 4, 2010. While others come into effect on specific dates like the Short Term Disability Plan and out of country insurance.

We expect to have a final version of the Collective Agreement on our website shortly.

Arbitration Award

Late last week and then into the week-end, the CPAA and CPC negotiation teams continued to bargain with the help of mediator Michel Picher. Many difficult issues were resolved, then, by mutual agreement of the parties, Mr. Picher was asked to rule on the outstanding items. Arbitrator Picher will hand down his decision by June 4, 2010, settling all remaining terms of the Collective Agreement.

CPAA and CPC have agreed to arbitrator Kaplan. In addition, because there is still hope that the Corporation will come to the table to really negotiate, we agreed to mediator Picher. The parties are scheduled to meet May 7 and 8 with mediator Picher, in an effort to resolve the outstanding issues and reach a Collective Agreement. If that effort fails, arbitrator Kaplan will then be presented with each of the two parties final offers. After considering the offers put in front of him, arbitrator Kaplan will select which one will become our new Collective Agreement. As usual, we will apprise you of any new development.

Dear Members,

You recently received a letter from Canada Post identifying the Corporation's "Final Offer". Although CPC identifies the key components of this offer, it is CPAA's position that the enhancements identified do not outweigh the concessions expected of CPAA members. The Corporation's proposal, in our view would result in an unbalanced Collective Agreement where the losses to the many would exceed the benefits to a few.

In many instances we felt that there were no real negotiations. Often we were met with a flat out refusal to consider or discuss your demands. Some of these demands have little or no monetary impact on the Corporation's bottom line. For example, we asked that January 2nd be recognized as a statutory holiday. This particular date could have been exchanged for another statutory holiday, thus having no monetary impact. The answer was no.

Despite the overall lack of discussion, we were able to agree to some changes. There are, however, still many outstanding items. The Corporation has offered a number of modest enhancements to the benefits and, in exchange, demanded major concessions.

Some of the outstanding items are:

- CPAA proposed a four (4) year Collective Agreement in recognition of the recovering economy. CPAA would consider a long term agreement if the benefits to our members outweighed the concessions.

- CPAA's proposed salary increases were in line with information from various financial institutes. In fact, we used some of the same sources as CPC. Our final offer was also in line with wages recently negotiated by other bargaining units.

- CPAA refused to allow the Corporation to introduce the notion of Part-Time "Senior Assistants".

- CPAA refused to allow the Corporation to eliminate the 7th week of Annual Leave.

- CPAA refused to allow the Corporation to eliminate Pre-Retirement Leave.

- CPAA has major concerns regarding the negative financial impact of the new Injury-on-duty Leave provisions.

- CPAA has major concerns with the proposed Short Term Disability Plan (STDP). Although seven (7) personal days may be an enticement to some of our members, STDP does not provide protection if you do not currently have any, or, have very limited accumulated Sick Leave credits.

Currently, the parties are in the process of selecting an Arbitrator. Names have been exchanged.

CPAA is also disappointed that we could not reach a negotiated settlement; nonetheless, we are willing to commence meaningful negotiations at any time.

We committed to keeping all CPAA members informed of the progress of negotiations. We also remind all Term employees that under the By-Laws of the Association, Term employees are not eligible to participate in the ratification vote should the parties be able to negotiate a Collective Agreement. For more information, please feel free to contact CPAA's National Office at any time.

In our last update, we told you that negotiations had entered a new phase. Despite the fact that CPAA had reduced its final offer, the parties could not reach an agreement. Since Canada Post was unwilling to consider even our moderate and reasonable proposal, we have agreed to ask an arbitrator to decide whose offer should be accepted.

The Corporation formally notified CPAA of its proposed arbitrator. For its part, CPAA responded on February 25th that it did not accept the Corporations' choice. We gave CPC four alternate arbitrators' names to select from. At the time of writing this update, CPC has not responded to our letter yet.

While the Canada Labour Code prohibits any employer from attempting to by-pass the negotiation process by bargaining directly with the membership, we ask that you remain vigilant for any inappropriate communications.

Canada Post has continued to make huge demands for concessions in exchange for several very minor enhancements to your pay and benefits. You gave us a mandate to improve your working conditions and benefits and we could not accept these demands for concessions. We know that our members will be wise to any attempts by the employer to repackage cuts and takeaways in an effort to sell them as attractive tradeoffs, hoping it all be smoke and mirrors to members.

After nine months of bargaining, the parties will be asking an arbitrator to decide the remaining terms of their collective agreement.

For many years, CPAA members have had a clause in the agreement that says final offer selection is the best way to resolve bargaining disputes. The clause means that both parties have to make a final offer. An arbitrator will look at the Association's offer as well as the Corporation's. He or she will decide which one is the most reasonable and that will become the agreement.

We are very comfortable that we have made a reasonable offer to Canada Post. The increases in compensation are in line with the overall compensation that has been given to the other bargaining units. Although both sides have made some gains, a great deal of the offer reflects the status quo, given that we are starting to come out of the recession.

Canada Post is asking to cut back or eliminate parts of the agreement, and CPAA will not accept such a proposal.

Often the parties have informal discussions to bridge the gap. That may still happen – CPAA prefers a bargained settlement to an arbitrated one. If we can't reach a negotiated agreement though, then we are quite prepared to defend our offer before the arbitrator.

As usual, we will keep you posted.

CPAA was the union that held on to member's severance pay the longest. Now, we have told the Corporation in bargaining that we will not accept reductions in your benefits. The Corporation's proposal still includes cuts to injury on duty leave, pre-retirement leave and annual leave. We will not accept these cuts.

We made it clear that is our bottom line position. The parties will be back at the negotiation table in early February. We will know then if we can get to a Collective Agreement without going to arbitration.

Your negotiation team was back at the table this week trying to get a reasonable collective agreement. As of today, Canada Post is still looking for major concessions on a number of rights under the current agreement. Among them, the Corporation wants to take away sick leave for hundreds of term employees, end pre-retirement leave, make deep cuts to injury on duty leave and cut vacation entitlements. And that's not the end of the list.

We're not buying it.

We are maintaining our position. We will not treat this as a round of concession bargaining. CPAA's goal is to bargain a collective agreement that we can be proud of. As we head into a time of economic growth, we want to improve the working lives of our members, not take away their pay and benefits.

We have several more days scheduled over the next two months, and we intend to press for a reasonable deal. The offers are now being made on the basis of global packages, with very little discussion of the individual demands.

We have never had to go to arbitration before, and we hope this round won't be the first. On the other hand, if we aren't able to negotiate a reasonable deal, we intend to protect your interests in any way necessary.

On Monday December 14, the Canada Post Negotiation's team presented a global offer. On Tuesday, the CPAA team presented its global offer. The Corporation requested further clarifications on some CPAA demands. The two teams will resume work on January 6, 2010. The Corporation has repeatedly stated that it wished to reach an agreement. Your CPAA Negotiation's team believes that a negotiated agreement is feasible and are working to get you the best Collective Agreement possible. We wish you all a very happy and safe holiday season.

As we move into fall, your bargaining committee is moving into a new stage of negotiations with Canada Post.

Since our last communiqué, we have put all of our demands on the table, and we know what the Corporation is asking for.

From the beginning of this round, Canada Post has said that we have to understand that these are tough economic times. They have said that we have to take that into account when we present our demands, and when we consider their proposals.

We have been firm that we are at the bargaining table to improve the working conditions of our members in rural Canada. That will remain our approach.

Our proposals are realistic for the Canadian market, which has fared better than almost any other industrialized economy. Most of the "experts" also believe that we are coming out of the downturn, and some expect our economy to take off over the coming months. We will work to strengthen the Corporation, and we believe we can do that by improving the work and working conditions of our members with reasonable demands.

That's CPAA's approach - our approach - to negotiations.

WHERE WE ARE:

Housekeeping and Clarification

It is normal that the parties work with a contract for a few years and realize there are certain things that can be fixed without changing anything that is being done in the workplace. The other thing we do in every round is to make the contract as readable as possible. Having a huge brick of a document full of rights isn't of much use if the language isn't understood or accessible to our members.

We have signed off on a number of articles. Others will need more discussion.

Staffing

We have asked for changes that continue to reflect the needs and interests of CPAA offices. That includes greater transfer rights, greater rights for term employee, and increases in the right to compete forpositions.

Job Security

We have asked for a range of improvements to the job security of CPAA members, including notice provisions so that CPAA can deal quickly and effectively with any decisions the Corporation wants to take about hours in a post office. We are asking to improve the minimum staffing requirements that are already in the agreement, to make sure the Corporation staffs offices with the hours and people needed to provide postal services. Finally, we are looking to establish a consultation process that would bring together our members, CPAA itself and the Corporation, to decide how many hours are needed by an office to provide postal services.

Working Conditions

CPAA is looking to improve provisions that affect members, like bereavement leave, building on our recent arbitration win, and protection against disclosing private medical information.

Monetary

We are looking at a number of improvements to the wages and benefits for CPAA members. These include improvements to uniform entitlements, pension improvements, and increases to the benefit plan - including new services, changes to the injury on duty provisions and increases to the leasing allowances, among other demands.

Next Steps

Throughout our demands, we have tried to keep the balance that is so important in CPAA offices so that we can work to improve your working conditions, whether you are Postmasters - both grade and group, Senior, Full and Part-time Assistants or Term employees.

CPAA and your bargaining committee has been busy preparing for this round since last year. I can give you my commitment and that of the whole committee that we will get you the best collective agreement for employees working in Canada's rural post offices.

I will be keeping you posted as bargaining evolves.

As was reported at the Conventions, approximately 1700 demands were received. The main areas covered in your demands were:

1. General salary increases
2. Pay out of unused sick leave
3. Uniforms for all employees
4. Enhanced Pre-retirement benefits
5. Additional stat holidays (e.g. : Jan. 2, family day)
6. Elimination of the 1/3 formula
7. Various staffing provisions

We started our preliminary Negotiating committee work on March 2nd. We reviewed all the demands and sorted them into the following packages:

Monetary
Miscellaneous
Working Conditions
Clarifications
Staffing
Housekeeping
Job Security

Once we completed this process, approximately 160 demands remained.

To date we have presented:

Housekeeping
Clarifications
Miscellaneous

So far, we have been at the table only 7 days (May 5,19,21,22, June 3, 4 and 22nd). No dates in July and then back at the table in August (4,5,6,7 and 9) with dates to come for September (9,10,11,13,22, and 23).

We greatly appreciate the help from the Branch Presidents who are not on the Committee, for the research they did to assist us.

We will be doing updates more frequently, so you may have to check the website and Communiqués.

The CPAA Negotiating Committee has reviewed the 1,700 membership demands, categorized them into specific groups, and is in the process of finalizing its position for negotiations. We expect to be at the bargaining table by the time you read this communiqué.

While CPAA recognizes that all Canadians are facing difficult economic times, your Negotiating Committee will make every effort to ensure you have secure, safe, meaningful employment and are fairly compensated for your contribution to the Corporation’s continued success.

The main groups for the 1,700 demands are:

• job security
• pay out of unused sick leave
• uniforms for all employees
• enhanced Pre-retirement leave
• various staffing issues
• additional statutory holidays
• elimination of the 1/3 formula and wage increases.

Look out for the next negotiations update in mid-June.

Article 60 of our Collective Agreement states that our contract will remain in effect until December 31, 2009. Recently, National President Leslie A. Schous approached Canada Post to inform the Corporation that CPAA would be ready to enter negotiations early in 2009. President Schous also instructed the Negotiation Committee to commence preliminary work. For this round of negotiations, you, the members submitted a record number of demands. Of particular note, this year we received in excess of 100 demands from Term Employees. While only active members of the Association will be able to vote on the ratification of the new Collective Agreement, all demands will be considered by the Negotiation Committee. To you our brothers and sisters who are Term Employees, we say: You may not have a vote, but you have a voice and we heard you. Everyone on the National Board of Directors and the National Executives of the Association thank all the members for taking the time to submit their demands. In closing, once Negotiations is in full swing, we will send monthly updates by mail, as well as putting these updates on the Association website. Be sure to check: www.cpaa-acmpa.ca for the latest news on your negotiations.

To: All members of CPAA

Summary: Canada Post and the Canadian Postmasters and Assistants Association (CPAA) have begun negotiations for a new collective agreement. The current collective agreement expires on December 31, 2009.

Action: Information only.

Details: Both parties have expressed confidence that the new round of bargaining will lead to a fair agreement for the approximately 11,000 CPAA members who are employed at Canada Post. Both sides intend to work to ensure that the Corporation maintains its strong competitive position as well as its reputation as one of Canada's top 100 employers.

The CPAA represents Postmasters and Assistants, who are largely based in rural Canada.