Roughly 170 postal workers suspended five days without pay

[TrueBlueTerrier]

http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoe ... ea&k=13829

Janet French, TheStarPhoenix.com
Published: Monday, March 31, 2008

SASKATOON - In a move their union calls heavy-handed and intimidating, about 170 Saskatoon postal workers have been suspended for five days without pay after meeting with their shop stewards during a 10-minute coffee break.

Wilf Tucker, president of the Saskatoon local of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW), said letter carriers working at all three Saskatoon mail depots, and some clerks at the city's main depot, received letters Monday telling them they will be penalized for an "unlawful work disruption" on Mar. 20.

"We're definitely concerned about the message that Canada Post is relaying to our members," Tucker said.

Five days without pay for taking a 10 minute coffee break workers are entitled to in their collective agreement is "definitely out of line," Tucker said.

"It does seem to be an effort to intimidate our members not to gather together to discuss issues on our floor."

A letter to one worker said Canada Post's policy states participating in an unlawful work disruption is subject to a minimum penalty of a five-day suspension, and is grounds for job termination. The letter also says, "further misconduct may be subject to disciplinary measures up to and including dismissal."

The nation's mail delivery service defends the letters, saying workers violated their collective agreement when they all stopped working at the same time - even if it was for 10 minutes.

"Measures like this are designed to send a message," said Malcolm French, Canada Post's spokesperson in Saskatchewan. "The message this sends is that disrupting the work process is not an acceptable tactic when we have a collective agreement in place."

On Mar. 20, shop stewards at the west, east and main Saskatoon depots organized the 10-minute meetings to update workers on issues each depot is dealing with, Tucker said.

Letter carriers' routes at the east depot were re-organized in the fall of 2006, and several carriers were let go, Tucker said. Since then, some workers have said their routes are too long, and are having difficulty managing the increased volume of mail they have to deliver. An Oct. 2007 review by management confirmed some carriers' routes are too long, Tucker said, and now workers are waiting for the corporation to make changes.

Meanwhile, delivery routes for main depot mail carriers were also reorganized, and more jobs eliminated there, he said. Some workers are frustrated the corporation is not reconsidering the newer, more onerous routes they have been assigned.

Now, workers at the west-side depot are worried about an expected route restructuring in that part of the city, Tucker said.

Although shop stewards took the 10 minutes to update union members on these issues, the coffee break meeting did not affect mail delivery in Saskatoon, Tucker said. Some mail even went out earlier than usual that day, he said.

However, the effect of 170 workers off the job - even though it will be in rotations - will be more profound, he said.

"We are concerned that management would take such a drastic action because of the impact on mail delivery," he said. "We consider this action taken by management to have more of an impact on mail service than the 10-minute break by carriers did."

Furthermore, going for one week without pay will be hard on many of the workers, Tucker said.

French (who is not related to the author) said Canada Post is handing down the suspensions in the wake of incidents in Alberta, where Canada Post workers at depots in Grande Prairie, Fort McMurray and Edmonton walked off the job in protest for part of a day.

Although the Saskatoon meetings didn't affect mail delivery, the corporation still sees it as the same tactic - a work stoppage, French said.

"It was taking people off the floor from their jobs," he said. "(It was) not something that had been scheduled and worked out. There are processes in place to set up those kinds of things. There are lots of contexts in which unions can communicate with their members . . . we have no interest in getting in the way of that."

Canada Post's Prairies head office made the call to suspend the Saskatoon workers, he said.

If the workers did do something wrong, the punishment doesn't fit the crime, Tucker said.

"They're being very heavy-handed in their approach to this occurrence, treating it as if they had walked off for the entire day," he said.

French said mail delivery should not be affected by the suspensions, which workers will serve at different times. Tucker said other workers will likely fill in for the suspended employees.

[andy2007]

How long do you think it will be before we see this type of tactic at RM?

[pinstripe]

How long do you think it will be before we see this type of tactic at RM?

I'd say.....Tuesday. (They'd need Monday to implement it)

[andy2007]

How long do you think it will be before we see this type of tactic at RM?

I'd say.....Tuesday. (They'd need Monday to implement it)

Many a true word spoken in jest.

[POSTMAN]

Nearly there!!
Will update the thread hopefully during the week.

http://www.royalmailchat.co.uk/forum/vi ... hp?t=10459

[Throgg]

Re: Oh great, more ideas for RM managers
pinstripe wrote:
andy2007 wrote:
How long do you think it will be before we see this type of tactic at RM?


I'd say.....Tuesday. (They'd need Monday to implement it)


Many a true word spoken in jest.

And who just happens to be living in Canada at the moment?