Friends and comrades,
In this week’s Dispatch, we are covering negotiations updates, potential issues with the Eclipse system, potential issues with LWOP/AWOL coding, the We Together Strong Community donation drive, upcoming educationals, and upcoming committee meetings.
Solidarity,
Kyle Turner, Communications Officer
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Negotiations Updates
We won’t know what the timeline for voting on the new contract will look like until some further language around STDP and personal days is finalized, but our National office has released a new bulletin explaining the wage improvements in the contract offer.
For the raises that are based on the all-items Consumer Price Index (CPI), there is a more in depth explanation. The CPI is the same measure of inflation that is used to calculate COLA payments. This is different from a COLA payment because all of this income will be pensionable and folded into our wages. To read the full bulletin, click HERE. For more information on the tentative agreements, click HERE.
Potential Issues With Eclipse
It has been brought to our attention that temporary workers in Toronto have been experiencing issues with the Eclipse system after missing a call and attempting to call back. We are aware of the following two issues.
- Calling back too quickly after missing a call from Eclipse may result in an error message, so it is recommended that you wait a minute after the missed call before calling back
- Wait for the system to instruct you to enter your employee ID and do not enter it until the prompt is complete
If you are in the Edmonton Local and you have experienced any issues like this, please contact our Temporary Workers Rights Committee at temprightscupw730@gmail.com.
LWOP/AWOL Coding Issues
If you have been coded as AWOL (Absent Without Leave) on your pay stub instead of LWOP (Leave Without Pay) or SLWOP (Sick Leave Without Pay) when requesting leave when you are out of personal days. Regional representatives are intending to bring this up at a meeting with Labour Relations on January 8th. If you have experienced this, please send your pay stub to grievance@cupwedm.net.
We Together Strong Community Donation Drive
We Together Strong Community is launching their 6th Annual Project Heart, collecting warm items for members of our community who are experiencing homelessness.
Items needed are sleeping bags, blankets, coats, Winter jackets, boots, warm socks, gloves, and new undergarments.
There are currently two drop off locations: the EMPP has a mono setup to receive donations and you can also take your donations to the union office (18121 107 Ave NW). The final day to donate is February 6th.
If you can’t make it to a drop off location, you are also welcome to make monetary donations. For information on how to do that, please see the website post HERE.
Upcoming Educationals
In the Local, we have Basic Shop Steward (deadline to apply is 5 pm on January 14th) and Temporary Workers and Their Rights (deadline to apply is February 4th at 5 pm). We are also trying to gauge interest for a Social Steward course, so if you are interested, please apply before the deadline of February 18th. For more details, click HERE.
There is a Regional 3-day education seminar running in Edmonton from March 13-15th. The courses offered are Basic Shop Steward, Mental Health, Updating Routes & Basic LCRMS, and Grievance Handling. The deadline to get your application to the office is January 8th at 5 pm. Please note we are only accepting printed applications for this educational. For more information, click HERE.
We are also accepting applications for the Edmonton & District Labour Council Spring Labour School, which is happening from February 21st-22nd. The courses offered are Advanced Shop Steward, Bridge to a Shared Future, Basic Shop Steward, Media Training, Introduction to Labour Law and Arbitration: The Case Builder. and Conflict Resolution: Building Solidarity in Polarizing Times. The deadline to apply through the Local is January 14th at 5 pm. For more information, click HERE.
Upcoming Committee Meetings
There are a number of upcoming committee meetings, all currently scheduled to happen over Zoom: Education (January 11th and 14th); Organizing (January 15th); and the Temporary Workers’ Rights Committee (January 20th). For more information, click HERE.
Community Announcements
- Metro Cinema: On Saturday, January 10th, at 3 pm, Metro Cinema is showing two documentaries. The first is The Edmonton Storyteller: The Life and Times of Tony Cashman, which is a documentary about Edmonton writer and historian Tony Cashman. The second documentary is Send and Receive, which is a documentary about the relationship between international postal workers and their clients. For more information, click HERE.
Reminders
- VP4 RSMCs: If you are an RSMC/OCRE/PRE and you have concerns in your depot, please contact VP4 Christina Phillips at rsmc730@gmail.com.
- Staying Connected: Sign up for the text service or email list HERE.
- Special Assessment: The Local’s Special Assessment is suspended for the fiscal year (July 2025-June 2026), but will return in July 2026. So you should see a decrease in dues payments by slightly less than $15/month.
- Disability Supports: To access the Disability Supports portal, which provides a list of programs and services in your community, click HERE.
- Union Savings: To take part in these savings, you can register at unionsavings.ca/.
- Buy Union: Looking for a list of union-made goods and services? Click HERE.