ATTENTION PRAIRIE LOCALS BENEFIT FUND PARTICIPATES

NEW CLAIM PROCEDURES

ALL CLAIMS (DENTAL & HEALTH CLAIMS) WITH THE EXCEPTION OF SHORT TERM DISABILITY CAN NOW BE SENT DIRECTLY TO MANULIFE FINANCIAL.  SHORT TERM DISABILITY CLAIMS MUST STILL BE SENT TO THE ADMINISTRATION OFFICE ON BORDER STREET IN WINNIPEG.

DENTAL CLAIMS CAN NOW BE SUBMITTED ELECTRONICALLY, YOU WILL NEED TO ADVISE YOUR DENTIST OF THIS CHANGE AND GIVE THEM YOUR NEW CONTRACT NUMBER (80570 AND YOUR 4 DIGIT ID NUMBER).

IF YOU HAVE ANY CLAIM INQURIES (DENTAL OR HEALTH) YOU CAN NOW CALL MANULIFE CUSTOMER SERVICE DIRECT AT 1-800-268-6195, YOU WILL NEED YOUR CONTRACT NUMBER (80570) AND 4 DIGIT ID NUMBER.

CLAIM FORMS FOR DENTAL & HEALTH CAN NOW BE DOWNLOADED AT WWW.MANULIFE.CA/GROUPBENEFITS - COMPLETE STEP 1 & STEP 2 THEN CLICK ON FORMS

DENTAL CLAIMS CAN BE MAILED TO:  MANULIFE FINANCIAL GROUP BENEFITS, DENTAL CLAIMS…P.O. BOX 1654…WATERLOO, ON N2J 4W2

HEALTH CLAIMS CAN BE MAILED TO: MANULIFE FINANCIAL GROUP BENEFITS, DENTAL CLAIMS…P.O. BOX 1653…WATERLOO, ON N2J 4W1

IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR REQUIRE ASSISTANCE CALL THE ADMINISTRATION OFFICE AT 204-949-2775 OR SEND ME AN EMAIL AT debbiey.cep191@mts.net

CHANGE OF ADDRESS MUST BE REPORTED TO THE ADMINISTRATION OFFICE BY PHONE, EMAIL OR IN WRITING.

THE CONTRACT RENEWAL DATE WAS JUNE 1, 2010 AND THE CARRIER IS REQUESTING AN INCREASE IN PREMIUM RATES.  THE TRUSTEE’S HAVE ASKED THAT THE RATES REMAIN THE SAME WITH A REVIEW TO BE DONE IN SIX MONTHS WITH THE HOPE THAT THE EXPERIENCE WILL HAVE IMPROVED AND THE REQUESTED INCREASE WILL NOT BE NECESSARY AT THAT TIME.

The attached poster, “1919: The Red Year,” is now available at the AFL offices, 10654 – 101 Street, Edmonton. Please let us know if you would like a copy sent to you.

Luanne Climenhaga

Alberta Federation of Labour

10654 - 101 Street

Edmonton, AB T5H 2S1

Telephone: 780-483-3021

Fax: 780-484-5928

Website: www.afl.org

The three day 2009 Western Region Conference held in Winnipeg, Manitoba was attended by Ray

Wade, Andy Dean and Eugene Emmanuel. The theme of this conference was Building Solutions.

Between 180 and 200 delegates from across Western Canada’s CEP Locals attended the conference.

Day 1. Plenary session. After the reading of the Anti-Harassment statement, which is customary at

all conferences and conventions, we had the pleasure of listening to addresses by distinguished guests,

John Loxley (University of  Manitoba, Economics) and Julie Guard (University of Manitoba, Labour

Studies). John Loxley discussed Bargaining and Julie Guard discussed Organizing. A panel discussion

followed each speaker’s address.

Premier Gary Doer addressed the members on labour issues.

Gaetan Menard, CEP National Secretary/Treasurer gave an update on the financial state of the

National Union.

Day 2. The two workshops held on Day 2 were Bargaining for the Future and New Developments

in Organizing. Each class accommodated 20 participants. Ray, Andy and Eugene were in different

classes but were all scheduled for the Bargaining workshop. The Bargaining workshop gave us the

opportunity to learn how to increase our collective strength. This workshop focused on how to motivate

our members and how to develop a communication strategy. The goals of this course were to provide

an overview of how to plan a successful membership engagement plan and to provide an opportunity

to demonstrate some of the basic tools to create a plan. Four scenarios were presented to the class and

each scenario was accomplished by groups in first determining what the goal was. Then we were

presented with different methods of how to achieve our goal. The different methods were Organization,

Research, Communication, Timeline and Budget. Only after identifying, expanding and intensifying

each of the different methods were we able to achieve our goal. The workshop was filled with different

 ideas from different members of different locals all with the same goal in mind.

Day 3. Plenary session. The conference came to a close with reports from the two different workshops.

There was an address by David Coles, National President followed by addresses by Jim Britton

(Western Region Vice President) and Don Boucher and Wendy Sol (Western Region Administrative

Vice Presidents). A video tribute to recently deceased Joy Hanlon ended the session.

As I was leaving for work this morning I noticed that my Mayday tree had bloomed. Just in time to, considering the date, May 29, two more days and I would have had to change its name to Juneday. I hope this is a sign that summer is finally in sight, it sure has been a strange spring.

It has been a busy spring for us in Local 255G, we’ve concluded two Collective Bargaining Agreements attended two Conferences (CEP Media Conference, North American Newspaper Conference) welcomed new members from the Bargain Finder into our number and held Chapel elections for the Production workers at the Edmonton Journal. We have also represented our members through the Grievance Procedure, maintaining their employment, maintaining their job classification and having their discipline reduced or withdrawn. Also, I have attended meetings of our Union Pension Plans where I act as a Trustee and member of their respective Audit Committees. As well I have also attended meetings of the Canadian Print Industry Sector Council whose directive is to establish skill standards for the print industry, eventually leading to Certification. I hope you will enjoy this new attempt at communication with you the membership. Special thanks and recognition to Bill Pierce for his efforts in getting this forum up and running. Your suggestions and comments are very welcome. Hope you enjoy a safe summer

Ray Wade          

Collective Bargaining

Quebecor World Edmonton

With fences going up around the plant, security guards in place and a strike vote scheduled for May 29 the Union negotiating committee and the Employer met at the Ramada Hotel on May 20 in a final attempt to avoid a labour dispute. This meeting was necessitated as a result of the membership’s rejection of the Employers final offer. While our members were sympathetic to the difficulties with regard to Quebecor World receiving the financing to come out of CCAA and Chapter 11 and cognizant of the fact that other Unions including CEP across Canada and the United States had already accepted concessions similar to the ones they were being asked to accept, they balked when it came to the Term or length of the Agreement and Hours of Work. The outcome of this meeting was that the Employer agreed to reduce the Term by one year (expire May15, 2012), the Hours of Work from 42 hours to 40 hours and move start rate for Press and Bindery to $14.25 from $11.52. That evening the membership ratified the Agreement.

While this bargaining secession resulted in our members agreeing to reductions in many areas of the Contract, it is hoped that by so doing this cooperation with the Employer will ensure success going forward. This agreement could not have been reached without a lot of hard work and effort by the bargaining committee and I would like to thank them. Duncan Brown, Graphical Director of CEP who provided leadership, experience, knowledge and valuable advice when things got tough and we needed direction. You in plant committee, who represented their individual

Departments  admirable, led by your Commercial Vice President, Andy Dean,  Bindery; Shanne Owen, Lawrence Haynes, Preparatory; Bonnie Turner, Shipping; John Dean Kinney, Maintenance; Cam Smith, Press; Les Worrall, Sam Betke, Alex Mycko.

ABC Press

At a meeting of the membership held on Monday, May25, 2009 it was agreed to renew the current Collective Agreement status quo for one year. (Expire June 14, 2010)

Media Conference

The Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada is made up of many sectors, Forestry and Energy sectors are examples. Our Local is part of the Media Council. In April of this year, Ron Bron, Eugene Emmanuel, Andy Dean and myself Ray Wade attended the yearly conference to share information and attend secessions dealing topical subjects on the state of our industry. Click here for full report

North American Newspaper Conference

After an absence of more than four years, it was decided that considering what was happening in the Newspaper Industry that our Local should once again continue participation in this conference. It was attended by Earl Petkau and Ron Bron and information collective and shared should prove beneficial in our dealings with our Employer, The Edmonton Journal. Click here for full story.

 New Members

As a result of a merger of their workforce, Bargain Finder and Trader and cessation of their operations in Winnipeg, Calgary and Vancouver our membership at Trader in Edmonton has grown. While it is unfortunate that people from those other centers have lost their jobs, (some of them our union brothers and sisters) it has resulted in a benefit for our Local, and hopefully has provided better job security for our members. Welcome to the new members, hope to see you at our General Meeting, June 24.

Journal Production Chapel Elections

Congratulations to all new and re-elected members at the Edmonton Journal. Click here for details Your service to the Union is appreciated. You are the front line representatives of our organization and will be relied on to help your fellow workers with problems related to their terms and conditions of their employment. We will help you in this effort, as well as educate you on dealing with your employer through our Shop Steward Course to be offered this summer. Meanwhile feel free to call the office anytime if you have any questions or concerns. I want to thank Angela Andrews your outgoing Chapel Chairperson for all the work she has done for our Local over the past two years, she represented her members well.

ROY SIMMONS   

 
ASSISTANT CHAPEL

MARIN STEVANOVIC  

 
HEALTH & SAFETY

DARREN BALDOCK
DON BAY
LOIS KUTSCHINSKI
ROY SIMMONS

DOCKS

TIE BETWEEN
DARREN BALDOCK & GEORGE SZEWCZUK
(ELECTIONS WILL BE HELD AT A LATER DATE)
DANA BUCKLAND    -   MAILROOM NIGHTS   -   ACCLAIMED

BARBARA WOOD   -    MAILROOM DAYS     -    ACCLAIMED

THIEU NGO     -     PRESS ATTENDANTS     -     ACCLAIMED

Sale of Business – Successor Rights – s. 46(1) - The Board concluded a successorship had occurred when the “lifeblood” of an organization was transferred over time to the successor employer in the context of a non-arm’s length transaction.

Ed Web, a unionized print shop, was sold to Central Web Offset Ltd. (“Central Web”) as part of a more complicated series of corporate transactions.  Commencing shortly after the sale, Central Web began appropriating Ed Web’s important “soft assets” and integrating them into Central Web’s own business.  When Ed Web’s business fortunes declined, its “hard assets” became surplus.  Central Web disposed of these hard assets, appropriated the sale proceeds, terminated almost all of the unionized employees, and transferred the remaining “soft assets” – customers, ongoing work, managers and most importantly, the benefit of a long term printing contract – to itself.  Ultimately, Ed Web was closed

The Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union  of Canada. Local 255G (the “Union”) applied to the Board for a declaration that Central Web was both a successor employer to and a common employer with Ed Web Printers (“Ed Web”).  The Union also sought various other findings including that Central Web breached the Code’s statutory freeze provisions, bargained in bad faith by failing to disclose in a timely fashion a plant closure, refused to hire employees from the closed operations because of their union affiliation and interfered with the Union’s rights to represent their members.

Held:  The Board dismissed the Union’s common employer application.  The application failed on the ground there was no labour relations purpose for making the declaration.  The Board would not exercise its discretion to make a common employer declaration where one of the employers that would be bound by the declaration was truly defunct and out of business.

The Board also dismissed the Union’s statutory freeze application.  Although the closure of the printing plant was an alteration of the terms of employment of the bindery employees during a freeze period, it was a change that was in accordance with the collective agreement and in the reasonable expectations of the employees in the bargaining unit.

The Board granted the Union’s successorship, bad faith bargaining, refusal to hire and interference with representational rights applications.  Emphasizing the fact the transfer in question was non-arm’s length being between divisions of the same corporate employer, the Board concluded the transfer over time of a significant portion of the unionized division’s soft assets and ultimately its hard assets (or the proceeds from the sale of these hard assets) resulted in the transfer of the “lifeblood” of the unionized operation to Central Web.  Addressing the bargaining in bad faith complaint, the Board held the employer had a duty to make unsolicited disclosure of the decision to close the plant prior to the date the disclosure was ultimately made.  The evidence also supported finding in favour of the union on the refusal to hire complaint and the interference with representational rights complaint.

PDF of Labour Relation Decision