Canada Post Bill Passes!

[hz2p]

It's back to their highly-paid jobs on Monday, for Canada Post employees.

Maybe Jack can go get another rub'n'tug to relieve the stress of his completely useless filibuster.

[iflyforpie]

Way to show those pinko wacko commies who is boss, eh Hed....er ....hz2p?

[kevind]

And I just changed 2 more bills to paperless... so now even less mail for them to deliver when they get back... And the winner is.... no-one

[crazy_aviator]

Ive heard they want a new postee making the same as a veteran postee,,,and they make 24-26.00/HR + benefits +pension plan + + ,,, Ive been doing the AME thing for 25 + yrs, with licences + responsibility for NO benefits, no dental no pension plan from the employer for 25 DOLLARS an HOUR ,,and i had to quit and go on contract to get a raise ??? WHAT is wrong here folks ? IF AME'S were smart enough and though of others as well as themselves, they would unionize with their OWN union ,,, EVERY last one of them, and drive the industry to its knees until fair wage and conditions prevail ,,,,,hmm maybe its the red wine

[Siddley Hawker]

Gotta love ol' Jack and his "We're on the side of small business" statements he spouted during the election campaign. Heaven forbid if he wasn't on the side of small business, he'd have probably filibustered for a few more days.

[North Shore]

Funny how everybody was "on the side of small business" in this debate. I'm sure that the conservative mantra of privatization will help small businesses also...

[azimuthaviation]

Funny how everybody was "on the side of small business" in this debate. I'm sure that the conservative mantra of privatization will help small businesses also...

BushCheney created more small businesses than any other administration. Of course he made them out of big businesses but thats not the point.

[azimuthaviation]

Hed....er ....hz2p?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KVHURoOZiY

[Beefitarian]

Hed....er ....hz2p?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KVHURoOZiY

So who's who?

[Beefitarian]

I have to say it is kind of suspicious the the buildings fell straight down...

[hz2p]

OTTAWA — Letters, bills and cheques could be flowing into Canadian mailboxes early this week, with back-to-work legislation being debated in the Senate Sunday after a marathon session in the House of Commons.

Once it passes the Senate, the bill has to receive royal assent, at which point it becomes law.

The bill forcing 50,000 locked-out Canada Post workers back to the job passed in the House of Commons Saturday evening, after more than 48 hours of continuous debate, and with no changes.

Labour Minister Lisa Raitt, who introduced the bill Monday, said postal workers will be back on the job 24 hours after Bill C-6 becomes law, which will happen shortly after it passes the Senate — a process the federal government has said can be accomplished within one day.

Immediately after Ms. Raitt introduced the bill, the NDP had vowed to draw out the debate for as long as possible, giving the feuding managers and unionized workers an opportunity to come to their own settlement, rather than being bound to one drafted by government.

But by Saturday afternoon, as the marathon debate in the House continued, union representatives said no agreement was going to be reached and thanked the NDP for delaying a vote on the proposed bill.

In a letter to NDP leader Jack Layton, the president of the union said the stalling tactics bought them time, but it wasn’t enough to end the impasse.

“During the evening of June 24, we held extensive discussions,” Denis Lemelin wrote, noting the union, Ms. Raitt and federal mediation services also had met Saturday morning. “Despite your efforts and the support and solidarity activities of tens of thousands of people across the country, the negotiations were unsuccessful.”

And with that, the union asked the NDP to move the process forward and instead of filibustering the process, present amendments to the bill.

Opposition MPs condemned the bill as a whole, saying it undermines workers’ rights to collective bargaining.

But the main sticking point over the bill was the wage settlements the federal government wrote in — which were lower than the last offer Canada Post had put on the table earlier this month.

The NDP introduced an amendment to that part of the bill, bringing the wages higher than proposed in the bill. But the Conservative majority defeated it, along with every other amendment presented Saturday.

Canada Post and the union broke off talks on Wednesday and met again Saturday, but a Canada Post spokeswoman said Sunday that the Crown corporation and the union “couldn’t have been further apart on several issues.”

On Sunday, Ms. Raitt told CTV that the structure of arbitration was the primary difference between the Conservatives and NDP during the extended dispute in the House of Commons.

“(The House of Commons process) came down to one thing — we felt we needed final offer selection as the means of arbitration and the NDP would not agree to that kind of arbitration,” she told CTV Question Period. “That was the fundamental piece.”

With final offer selection, both sides present a proposal to the arbitrator and they select one to form the binding ruling. Ms. Raitt said the NDP proposed changes that would see a more drawn out process and noted the government felt both sides have had enough time to talk.

Canada Post locked out its employees on June 14, after the Canadian Union of Postal Workers conducted 12 days of rotating strikes.

The Crown corporation blamed the two weeks of rotating strikes for estimated losses of $100-million.

Canada Post and the union went through seven months of failed negotiations before the rotating strikes began.

Aside from wages, changing the sick leave plan has also caused contention between the two sides; Canada Post had fought for a short-term disability plan to replace the practice of banking sick days.

[JakeYYZ]

What is the essential difference between a paperboy and a letter carrier?

[hz2p]

Paperboy doesn't have a union.

[grimey]

What is the essential difference between a paperboy and a letter carrier?

Letter carriers wear an ugly uniform, and don't put 2 electric bills in my mailbox at the same time.

The paperboy here is dressed in a ratty t-shirt, and can't figure out that yes, he's already delivered 3 papers to my house today, one to the front door and 2 to the side door.

So apparently the difference is church on sunday and passing grade 1 math. I could be wrong.

[Siddley Hawker]

I'm sure that the conservative mantra of privatization will help small businesses also...

I suppose the question could be asked "What will privatization hurt?"

Here's where I stand with Canada Post. I have a sis in law who's a mail courier out in the boonies. She picks up and delivers mail from the airport to four small post offices, so she ain't getting paid. Another lady I know is the Postmistress in one of the villages. She's paid for a total of 35 hours a week, which is generous, I think, but if Canada Post paid her for more than that she'd have to be declared a regular employee and thus be accorded all the goodies that come with permanent employee status. Now she ain't getting paid either. I have some decals somewhere in the mail from Guelph. The payment has come off my credit card, but so far I've yet to recieve the goods. Ditto for more decals from London. On that one the supplier hasn't recieved my check either, so we're equally inconvenienced. This is also the same union who struck Canada Post to protest the use of postal codes back in the day, and the head of the union, one Joe Davidson, was quoted as saying "@#$! the public." On the management side we had Trudeau's Postmaster General, one Andre Ouellet, who opined that any small businessman who trusted the Post Office deserved whatever happened to him.

Bankable sick days? Fine thing if you can get them. Any union leader worth his salt would be remiss if he didn't get the best possible deal he could for his members, but they should also realize that they can't ask more than what the public will accept, and as I see it the public is getting mightily pissed off with public unions.

[. ._]

I have to say it is kind of suspicious the the buildings fell straight down...

The laws of physics agree on all 3 WTC buildings. You see, if the pancake theory holds true, each floor would have to accelerate from 0 feet per second to whatever feet per second. Then the energy would transfer and the process would repeat.

Free-fall speed acceleration clearly proves that there were explosive charges set to eliminate any resistance.

And well, Jack was doing what he could. Yet another NDP moral victory!

In the end, we're stuck with a Tory dictator for the next few years. C'est la vie.

[hz2p]

we're stuck with a Tory dictator for the next few years

Can't be any worse than the arrogantly self-described "Natural Ruling Party" Liberal dictatorship that Canada suffered under for 70 years of the 20th century.

So far, a Conservative majority is looking pretty darned good. I guess no one remembers that ol' Liberal paragon of virtue, David Dingwall:

When questioned while giving testimony before Parliament as to why he felt he should receive a severance package after the voluntary resignation, he remarked "I'm entitled to my entitlements."

[niss]

we're stuck with a Tory dictator for the next few years

Can't be any worse than the arrogantly self-described "Natural Ruling Party" Liberal dictatorship that Canada suffered under for 70 years of the 20th century.

So far, a Conservative majority is looking pretty darned good. I guess no one remembers that ol' Liberal paragon of virtue, David Dingwall:

When questioned while giving testimony before Parliament as to why he felt he should receive a severance package after the voluntary resignation, he remarked "I'm entitled to my entitlements."

[azimuthaviation]

we're stuck with a Tory dictator for the next few years

Can't be any worse than the arrogantly self-described "Natural Ruling Party" Liberal dictatorship that Canada suffered under for 70 years of the 20th century.

So far, a Conservative majority is looking pretty darned good. I guess no one remembers that ol' Liberal paragon of virtue, David Dingwall:

When questioned while giving testimony before Parliament as to why he felt he should receive a severance package after the voluntary resignation, he remarked "I'm entitled to my entitlements."

Grow up

[hz2p]

OTTAWA — Letters, bills and cheques should be flowing into Canadian mailboxes early this week, after the Senate passed the Canada Post back-to-work legislation Sunday, the day after a marathon session in the House of Commons ended.

The Governor General is expected to give royal assent, which will pass the bill into law and force nearly 50,000 locked-out Canada Post workers back to the job under settlement terms arranged by government, rather than through a collective bargaining process.

Bill C-6 passed in the House of Commons Saturday night after more than 48 hours of continuous debate, but with no changes.

Postal workers will be back on the job 24 hours after the bill becomes law, said Labour Minister Lisa Raitt, who introduced the bill last Monday and was in the Senate on Sunday to defend it.

The president of the postal union reassured the Senate that all workers would be back on the job as expected, likely on Tuesday.

“We’re ready to go,” Denis Lemelin said Sunday, saying their priority has always been to provide and maintain reliable mail service to Canadians. “We want everybody at work the first day.”

Canada Post locked out its employees on June 14, after the Canadian Union of Postal Workers conducted 12 days of rotating strikes.

Less than one week after the lockout began, Raitt introduced the back-to-work legislation.

Senate Opposition Leader James Cowan, like his Liberal colleagues in the Commons, opposed the nature bill.

“The strikes lasted a day in each of the targeted cities,” he said. “The postal service wasn’t going to halt. On the contrary, the union and its supporters went out of their ways to ensure the least disruption to the Canadian public.”

But Conservative Sen. Michael MacDonald, echoing the Tory lines repeated time and again throughout the filibuster, said the Canadian economy was too fragile for government to simply watch while businesses suffered, waiting to send invoices and receive payments.

“Small and medium-sized businesses still rely heavily on services,” he said. “We can’t stand by and see some of the vulnerable sectors of our society affected.”

The Crown corporation has blamed the two weeks of rotating strikes for estimated losses of $100-million.

Steven Fletcher, the minister in charge of Canada Post, said the lockout cost the company less than the strikes because employees weren’t earning wages during that time.

Opposition MPs condemned the bill as a whole, saying it undermines workers’ rights to collective bargaining.

But one of the main sticking points over the bill was the wage settlements the federal government wrote in — which were lower than the last offer Canada Post had put on the table earlier this month.

In the House, opposition MPs suggested that government and Canada Post were collaborating on the drafting and implementation of the bill.

The corporation’s president Deepak Chopra denied the claim when Liberal Sen. Serge Joyal raised the point on Sunday.

He said Canada Post never asked the Conservatives to table legislation, and never consulted with government on the drafting of the bill.

Canada Post and the union went through seven months of failed negotiations before the rotating strikes began.

Aside from wages, changing the sick leave plan has also caused contention between the two sides; Canada Post had fought for a short-term disability plan to replace the practice of banking sick days.

After months of negotiations and offers, the feuding sides appeared to be at a standstill.

Immediately after Raitt introduced the back-to-work bill in the House, the NDP vowed to draw out the debate for as long as possible, giving the feuding managers and unionized workers an opportunity to come to their own settlement, rather than being bound to one drafted by government.

But by Saturday afternoon, as the marathon debate in the House continued, union representatives said no agreement was going to be reached and thanked the NDP for delaying a vote on the proposed bill.

In a letter to NDP leader Jack Layton, the president of the union said the stalling tactics bought them time and allowed for two more meetings, but it wasn’t enough to end the impasse.

And with that, the union asked the NDP to move the process forward and instead of filibustering the process, present amendments to the bill. The NDP conceded.

Later that evening, the party brought forward an amendment to the part of the bill dealing with wages, bringing the pay-rate increase higher than proposed in the bill.

But the Conservative majority defeated it, along with every other amendment presented Saturday.