Bylaws

Sat, 06 Oct 2007 02:26:10 GMT

By-laws of the Retired CUPW Members

Metro Vancouver

(As amended, September 12, 2007)

Name, Affiliation and Composition

The name of the organization shall be the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) Metro Vancouver Retired Members Organization.

The organization is composed of the retired members of the Vancouver Local.

Objectives

To support the fundamental principles of Trade Unionism and the improvement of working conditions and retirement benefits for all workers and in particular Canadian Postal Workers.

To defend and promote the rights and benefits of retired workers and in particular Canadian Postal Workers.

To assist the functioning of the Pension and Retirees Benefits Committee as outlined in Article 8.3 of the CUPW Vancouver Local Bylaws:

Shall consist of volunteer active members and retired members or lifetime members.

Shall work under the direction of a Full-time Officer who shall be appointed by the Local Executive Committee.

Shall study pension plan legislation and the administration of pension plans and retiree benefits contained within the Collective Agreements of other Unions.

Shall make recommendations to the Local Executive Committee on:

the administration of pension plans and retiree benefits within the Local;

proposals for negotiating improvements and changes require for pension plans and retiree benefits;

the education of the membership and retirees on pension plans, retiree benefits and retirement issues.

Conditions of Membership and Equal Rights

Eligibility for Membership

Retired CUPW members are eligible for membership. All members of this Union Retirement Committee enjoy equal rights without discrimination, including but not limited to sex, age, occupation, ethnic origin, political beliefs or affiliation and sexual orientation or preference.

Minimum Wage

Sat, 06 Oct 2007 02:20:32 GMT

I hope everyone has signed the BC Federation of Labour's petition to raise the minimum Wage!

If not, Here's the link:

http://www.bcfed.ca/petition/minimum_wage

2007 AGM

Fri, 10 Aug 2007 19:05:48 GMT

Annual General Meeting Minutes

The first Annual General Meeting of the Retirement Committee was held on May 2 2007 and began promptly at 1:00 pm. Ten members were present, plus two guest speakers, Marion Pollack and Dan Cunningham from the regional office.

Marion began the meeting with an update on the latest contract. Signed on May 4, it was endorsed by all the major centres, and 65% of all postal workers, the highest turnout of voters ever. As retirees, we retained the same benefits as before, but with improvements in coverage for paramedical, speech therapy, massage, and therapy. Cliff Cheung said that retirees want more input into the National Executive’s agenda to get better benefits. He stated that, in promoting benefits for us, they’d be doing a service to themselves and to all workers in future. Marion said the best approach was to establish contact with Evert Hoogers in Ottawa to act as spokesperson for us as there is no present provision for retirees to submit demands. We can, however, still give our ideas to the local and also to the area council which meets in September. Dan thought that perhaps we could make a presentation at the regional conference. He then stated that, as of, 2001 there was 12 billion dollars in our pension plan. 340 million is added to it each year, while only 120 is paid out. When asked why retirees couldn’t see more benefits from this money right now, the answer was that the average age of postal workers is 51 and so many more will be retiring shortly.

It was suggested that someone on the National Executive be assigned the task of overseeing retiree concerns as no one presently does. Marion suggested that, as a means of getting our concerns known, we ask Pat Bertrand to inform all locals by mail of our demands. They then can be dealt with when the region meets in September. Our demands, if agreed to, would be forwarded on to the National Executive. It was agreed we would do this.

1 Reading of the minutes of the previous meeting

Al Marcoux asked about the video Memory and Muscle. George Little said that he’d contacted Ottawa about making copies. If denied, he’d send to Ottawa for copies. (As of May 24, Evert Hoogers promised to send us 5 copies).

Dave Knight then made a motion to accept the minutes of the previous meeting. Donna-Marie McIntyre seconded and the motion passed unanimously.

2 Business Arising

Two questions arose. 1) Does the CUPW website give us, retired members, updates? It was generally thought that they did. 2) Is the main plant on Georgia Street up for sale? There was some discussion, but no conclusive answers. It’s believed that eventually the post office will move out to Richmond.

3 New Business

There was no new business.

4 Financial Report

George announced that our treasurer David Yeung resigned in December. He said that, at present, we had no money at all, but that the dance event we had held in January had broke even. The local budgeted us $750 last year.

5 Executive Committee motions

There were no Executive Committee motions.

6 Unfinished Business

There was no unfinished business.

7 Correspondence

George said that he’d written letters to the National Executive to announce our existence and to the Royal City Local, thanking them for their participation in our dance.

8 Executive And Committee Reports

It was noted that our pension cheques had increased by $20 due to less taxes being deducted. Micki McCune has said that our pensions rise faster than workers’ salaries and also as inflation increases.

There was talk about a Social Committee and events it could plan for retired members. Whale watching and a tour of a winery were mentioned.

Donna-Marie McIntyre suggested a tour of the Seattle Post office and George remarked that International Solidarity Day for the Pacific Region occurs sometime this summer. We can meet our American sisters and brothers, and share ideas. George will write the Regional Office to see if a tour of the Seattle plant is possible. We wondered if they had a committee for retired workers.

9 Good And Welfare

There were no issues raised.

10 Election Of Officers.

President. Dave Knight nominated George Little. Cliff Cheung seconded.

George won the position unchallenged.

Vice-president. Cliff nominated Dave Knight. Kishen Lal seconded. Dave won the position by acclaim.

Recording Secretary. Chris was nominated by Cliff. Kishen seconded. Chris won by acclamation.

Treasurer. Donna-Marie nominated Al Marcoux, who accepted and won. Donna-Marie was voted in as Tyler.

11 Adjournment

Our business being done, Cliff made a motion for us to adjourn. This was seconded by Dave Knight and the meeting broke up. It was 2:40pm.

With best regards,

Chris Towers,

Recording Secretary for The Retired Members Committee

Photo Album: September 28

Thu, 08 May 2008 19:25:37 GMT

September 28

Amanda just can't resist a picket line

Amanda Hamilton retires

Retire Member Dave Knight on the CUPE Picket Line

Photo Album: The Beginning

Fri, 28 Sep 2007 21:04:07 GMT

The Beginning

Founding Fathers?

Retired Postie

Bylaws

Minimum Wage

2007 AGM

Photo Album: September 28

Photo Album: The Beginning