Bulletin
TST-CF – Important update for TST-CF workers on the union vote
April 15, 2021
**Please share this information with your coworkers if they are not receiving information from our union. ***
First off, we want to thank all of you for keeping in close contact with us. We apologize if we have not been in as regular contact over the last few weeks. As there are many details to sort out regarding the pending vote, we wanted to do our due diligence and provide you with as accurate information as possible.
We have compiled this FAQ to provide you with updates, as well as to answer some of the questions that we have been hearing the most from those who have reached out.
What is the latest about when we can vote?
We are currently waiting for the Canadian Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) to order a vote for employees of TST-CF. We anticipate this will take place in early May, but this has not been formally confirmed.
How will the vote take place?
We understand that the vote will take place online, and that information will be sent to your home directly detailing how you can log on to vote. Your employer’s request for accurate mailing information is legitimate for this purpose as it is their responsibility to forward it to the CIRB.
Why have you not emailed us at our work email address?
Your employer has blocked our union’s ability to send emails to your work addresses, as well as blocked access to our website from your work server. The CIRB ruled that your employer must allow us to contact you TWO times through your work email address. We have used ONE of those opportunities when we reached out to invite you to our telephone townhall event. Despite this ruling, your employer still attempted to appeal this decision and stop our emails from getting to you – an appeal that the CIRB dismissed.
As we only have one more opportunity to email you at your work address, we want to ensure that email contains all the final and confirmed information about voting. This is why it is essential that between now and then, we have your support to share information to your colleagues through word-of-mouth and to forward these emails.
What else can MoveUP do to reach potential voters at TST-CF?
Our organizing team has been doing their best to come out with different ideas to reach TST-CF employees that we have not yet been able to, including through social media as well as on-the-ground leaflet campaigns. We welcome any suggestions that you may have to help us better connect with your colleagues.
How can I tell my colleagues about the benefits of a union?
Our union has been protecting and supporting people in this industry for over 60 years. We have seen that companies shift, change, and grow in the last decade. While you may be happy with your current working conditions, things can change quickly and those changes may not leave you with the same conditions. With union membership, you have more job security. That means that future changes to the company and your work need to comply with the negotiated terms of the contract – which you help negotiate by being part of the process.
We have also seen differences between your coworkers’ conditions. Some people do the same work for less pay and that is unfair. A union makes things fair. So while you may be happy with your conditions, we are hearing from many who are being treated unfairly.
Our members are proud of the contract that has been in place since the 1960s. We need to VOTE YES to preserve that negotiated contract so that all terminal admin workers are protected and treated fairly.
What about concerns that union dues will actually cut our pay?
Union dues represent a small percentage of your gross income. At MoveUP, that percentage is 1.5%. If you compare a non-union wage versus a union wage for the same position at TST-CF, you will notice the union wage exceeds the non-union wage even with the 1.5% dues fee.
Union dues are also tax deductible, which means you get that money back at tax time.
Unions are non-profit organizations that are powered by the contributions of our members. That means your dues money are used to help fight for better conditions at your workplace, helping you and your colleagues deal with grievances, and negotiating future contracts. Joining a union is an investment in yourself!
If the vote is successful, we are also committed to not taking union dues from the previously non-unionized employers until we have successfully negotiated all of the future members into our collective agreement.
This is what our TST-CF Express union members in Vancouver and Calgary want you to know:
“I’m seeing both sides of the coin, union and non-union, through this merger and how those non-union workers are being treated. If it wasn’t for the union through this merger, I would be on the curb without a job, since they closed our department down.”
“We have a very good contract. It’s really beneficial to our team. With a bigger crew in the union, we will have more power to gain even more in contract bargaining.”
To find out more information about why it is important for you to VOTE YES, please visit MoveUPTogether.ca/VoteYes.
If you have any questions, please feel free to call me, Mike Novak, at (604) 562-4766 or email mnovak@moveuptogether.ca.
In solidarity,
Mike Novak
Union Representative