I regret to inform you that the Arbitrator rejected our national grievance N00-16-00002 in his decision of June 7, 2023.
The grievance challenged the Corporation’s decision to take away from letter carriers the duties of obtaining, sorting and preparing the mail, and assign them to routers instead.
The arbitrator found that the Corporation had modified the duties of letter carriers in accordance with clause 38.02 and declared that the employer had not violated the collective agreement by implementing its project to separate sortation from delivery (SSD).
The Union believes that under the terms of the renewal agreement of our contract, the employer’s obligation to hold meaningful consultations before implementing SSD is still in force, and aimed at reaching an agreement to avoid the implementation of SSD.
The Union is deeply disappointed by the arbitrator’s decision, and we urge members, in addition to any step the union may take, to support in the next round of bargaining, our demands to eliminate SSD and give back to letter carriers the duties of obtaining, sorting and preparing the mail that have been taken away from them through SSD.
The struggle continues!
In Solidarity,
Carl Girouard
National Grievance Officer