November 19, 2008
Much ado about nothing:
Family Related Leave
Your bargaining team had the opportunity to review the latest proposal from Canada Post. It looks like they have resorted to their old “all or nothing” bargaining tricks.
Here is what they wrote in their offer the evening of November 17:
“This offer is all-inclusive and without prejudice; no single item or group of items may be considered separately from the rest. This offer becomes null and void upon PSAC/UPCE declaring or authorizing a strike by any of its members”.
According to the CPC bulletin the offer on Family Related Leave was supposed to be pretty good:
“Special Leave to be used for urgent family situations, …in addition to the 7 personal days under the Short Term Disability Program and could be used after the 7 personal days have been used each year.
So what does that really mean? Was this spin or was it real?
The devil is always in the details so we have attached the actual language that has been proposed on the second page of this bulletin.
Did they actually add days?
Yes – but only if you have exhausted your personal days will “where conditions warrant” will you be granted leave with pay.
It may or may not be granted. It will be based on someone else's judgment as to whether or not the illness is “warranted” enough to grant leave.
In other words, you have to justify your time off for family related illness. It does not apply to medical appointments.
It is a new twist on the old “operational requirements”.
If you haven't exhausted your personal leave, you won't get it.
If your reason isn't good enough – you won't get it.
CONTRACT LANGUAGE
When your team looked at the proposed contract language – this is what we found.
- The Family Related leave for medical appointments and care of sick family members article 42.11 (b) and 42.11 (c) will be deleted effective January 1, 2010
It will be replaced by a new clause under an entirely different article.
Article 42.12 Leave With or Without Pay for Other Reasons
The new clause says:
- “Effective January 1, 2010, clause 42.12 a shall include where conditions warrant it and the employee has exhausted her annual allotment of personal days under the short-term disability program, the situation of illness in the employee's immediate family, as defined in clause 42.11”.
So what's really changed on Family Related Leave since the last offer that was unanimously rejected by your team?
Not much.
More information will follow shortly on the rest of the employer's offer.
Date Modified : 2010/07/29
