Friends and comrades,
In this week’s Dispatch, we’re covering negotiations updates, a message from the Local President (covering why you should vote NO on this contract, as well as management deleting positions from the EMPP) the Edmonton & District Labour Council Labour Day BBQ, some upcoming committee meetings, the postponement of the river tubing event, and the Women’s Equinox.
Solidarity,
Kyle Turner, Communications Officer
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Negotiations Update
The forced vote on the Corporation’s offer is currently underway and there is still a week and a half remaining if you haven’t cast your vote yet. If you are having trouble voting or if you haven’t received a PIN, click HERE to read the National bulletin on how to take care of those issues.
At all levels, our union has been recommending that members vote NO. To read the special edition of the Perspective Magazine that covers why our union recommends voting NO, click HERE. For more information on why you should consider voting NO, click HERE.
On July 22nd, the CIRB informed our union that members who cannot access the Corporation’s latest offer online can request a paper copy. This request involves filling out a form and telling the CIRB the steps you’ve taken to try to access the documents and why you haven’t been able to. The deadline to make this request is July 25th at 5 pm EST. For more information and for a link to the form to request a paper copy of the contract offer, click HERE.
Message from the Local President
Vote NO!
There are many reasons to vote NO to this contract offer. It’s important to understand that the CIRB has allowed the Corporation to attach a number of our National Policy Grievances to this vote. If we vote to approve this offer, then we are voting to remove those grievances. The grievance concerning the Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) payments is worth somewhere in the vicinity of $300,000 — that’s over $5,000 per member. The grievance having to do with Canada Labour Code sick days is worth over $1,000 per member per year, amounting to around $50-million per year. These are all benefits you throw away by accepting the $1,000 signing “bonus,” which is one time, taxable, and non-pensionable. It’s imperative that you vote NO!
Deleting Positions at the EMPP
On July 22nd, I received notice from the Corporation that they intend to delete nine positions on Shift 2 and 3: three P05 positions and six P04 positions. After discussions with the Shop Stewards at the Shop Steward meeting we had yesterday, we have decided to challenge the Corporation on the cuts to the P05 positions because they are asking P04s to do the job on a regular basis and the Stewards have been tracking this in order to have the P05s grieve the bypasses.
It’s much harder to challenge the positions being lost for P04s because they aren’t as easily tracked and because we receive far fewer grievances from workers who are working two P04 positions at the same time. Your jobs are on the line and we need to have facts and details in order to defend them, so we need you to file a grievance every time you are working two runouts or both sides of a machine or when you are removed from your rotation of duties.
EDLC Labour Day BBQ
The 34th Annual EDLC Labour Day BBQ is happening on September 1st from 11:30 am to 3:30 pm at Giovanni Caboto Park (9425 109A Ave NW). If you would like to volunteer for the event, click HERE. To see the poster from the EDLC, click HERE.
Committee Meetings
There are two committee meetings happening on Thursday, July 24th.
- The Women’s Committee is meeting at 5:30 pm at the Starbucks (12731 Victoria Road) on Victoria Road.
- The Organizing Committee is meeting at 7:00 pm via Zoom. For more information, click HERE.
River Tubing Postponed
The Social Committee had to postpone this past weekend’s river tubing event. It has been rescheduled for the 26th, but once again it will be subject to the weather. For more information and to RSVP, click HERE.
Women’s Equinox
The Women’s Equinox is scheduled for September 12th-14th at Camp LG Barnes on Gull Lake. For more information, click HERE.
Reminders
- 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.
- Education for All!: For more information about this campaign, click HERE.
- 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/.
- Stand with Safeway Workers and UFCW Local 401: Find out more at faircheckout.ca/.
- Buy Union: Looking for a list of union-made goods and services? Click HERE.