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Purolator

ANATOMY OF AN OUTSTANDING RATIFIED COLLECTIVE AGREEMENT

The result… a nice pre-Christmas present for Purolator members at Local 938

Members of the Local 938 bargaining committee met recently to analyze and dissect the successful ratified Purolator agreement reached on November 11th 2011. There were a lot of firsts in this agreement including an unprecedented 92% acceptance of the contract by the members at Purolator across the Country, negotiations concluding prior to expiry, a unanimous recommendation for acceptance by the entire negotiating committee representing the 12 locals across the Country as well as voting electronically. None of these things have ever happened before with Purolator.

“I don’t know if we were more surprised at the ultimate result or how quickly it all happened” explained Bob Miles, Local 938 Secretary-Treasurer and Chair of the bargaining committee. “We had a lot of experienced people from Local 938 at the bargaining table, probably the most in the country. This certainly helps in concluding a successful agreement. I have been on every bargaining committee since the very first Collective Agreement with Purolator in 1990 and Business Agent Stuart Villeneuve and Robin Venedam have been on every bargaining committee since the 2000 agreement. All the other members of our bargaining team have been on one or two bargaining committees. However, they all come with a vast amount of knowledge of the Collective Agreement process from their many years as Stewards representing the members at Purolator.” 

Purolator Steward, Robin Venedam added: “We knew what we wanted when we got there, we were very clear about that. We stuck together with that strategy. Everyone else simply followed us.”

“The stewards provided the valuable information from the various terminals on what the members were seeking and why. This information was invaluable and helped us focus on those issues” said Local 938 Business Agent Stuart Villeneuve.

Purolator Steward, Joe Jephson summed it up this way. “We all went in with a negotiation strategy that represented what our members wanted and thought was acceptable” he explained. “Obviously, we were after the best deal we could accomplish for our members. The company came into bargaining seeking labour peace and stability. We both got what we wanted.”

“Local 938 led the charge. When our leaders spoke, the room was quiet. People listened,” said Local 938 Executive Board Trustee and Steward Omkar Maraj. “We had strong leadership from the Local which had set goals for us to accomplish for the members. There wasn’t much rebuttal from others on that position, we basically put our mandate on the table and everybody else followed suit.”

“It was evident to all, that the Ontario Locals clearly came in unified, this has not always been the case in the past. All of the Ontario Locals together make up nearly half of the members at Purolator across Canada.” added Local 938 Business Agent, Shahan Simon. “That really showed all involved that we were here to get a deal for our members and we were a force to be reckoned with.”

The contract provides job security for the next 5 years for the members at Purolator with significant increases to wages, Pension, benefits and vacations along with other enhancements over the term of the contract.

Purolator Steward Tony Alloy got the last word. “In the final analysis, we at Local 938 carry the bulk of the members across the country.” he said. “The issues we had were solid issues that needed to be addressed. With our leadership pushing for those issues, we pretty much had control. The company recognized that and they knew they had to satisfy those issues in order to get an agreement.”

Teamsters Local Union No. 938 Purolator Bargaining Committee

Seated (L to R) Shahan Simon, Business Agent, Bob Miles, Secretary-Treasurer,Stuart Villeneuve, Business Agent.
Standing (L to R) Omkar Maraj, Steward, Mississauga West, Tony Alloy, Steward, Sault Ste Marie, Joe Jephson, Steward, Metro West, Robin Venedam, Steward, GTT

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Purolator and Teamsters Ratify 5 Year Deal!

Dec. 8, 2011 - Teamsters Local 938 and their bargaining team led the way as an historic 5-year tentativeagreement was ratified by a 92% vote by members across the country. The deal had been unanimously recommended by the negotiations committee made up of union members and Officers from Teamster Local Unions across Canada. Highlights of the package included a 16% wage increase over the term of the contact and a pension plan increase of 22%. Worker benefits have also been significantly improved and the retirement allowance has been raised by 40%. This contract puts Teamster members working for Purolator at the top of the industry in Canada.

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Purolator Steward Joins Women’s Caucus
		Yolande Lewis, a Divisional DG Specialist/WPT with Purolator Courier, working out of the Vaughan Depot has been appointed a Director for the Teamsters Ontario Women’s Caucus.

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Teams from Purolator's depots throughout the GTA participated in an action packed day of friendly competition on June 25th during the 5th Annual Purolator Metro Cup Soccer Tournament in Milton, Ontario. At end of the day, Team Metro West Hub were the victors.

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The 2nd Annual Purolator Softball Tournament

The 2nd Annual Purolator Softball Tournament was held on Saturday, July 16th at Ken Moorish Park in Scarborough. Ten teams competed for the coveted Metro Trophy during an action-packed day of competition. In the end, the team from One Financial took home the honours as champions of 2011.

 

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Purolator’s Gary Lafee lights up Brampton

December 19th 2009 is a date that Purolator’s Gary Lafee will not soon forget. In the pre-dawn darkness on Main Street Brampton, the 34-year veteran driver for the company  jogged 300 metres of the relay trip across Canada holding the Olympic Torch with its bright flame lighting up the dark, cold early morning sky. “The torch kept me warm” he said. “I didn’t even feel the minus 10 temperatures at all. And the many friends, Purolator colleagues and family who joined in along the route to cheer me on certainly made me feel warm and fuzzy all over”. Dressed in his distinctive official torchbearer white uniform complete with jacket, pullover pants, toque and red mittens all emblazoned with the logos of the Vancouver 2010 Olympics and the five Olympic rings, the Teamsters shop steward was proud as punch as he smiled and cheered along the route. “It was a very special moment in my life” he says. “As a very, very proud Canadian, Purolator employee and Teamsters member, this was a prestigious moment that will last forever”.

The Olympic flame has a sacred history and symbolizes the principles of peace, brotherhood and friendship. The coast-to-coast torch relay is a unique occasion designed to unify Canadians and generate a feeling of national pride that will hopefully endure long after the flames have been extinguished. 12,000 Canadians will carry the torch along the 45,000 km trip to Vancouver. Designed by Bombardier in Quebec, the torch is made of stainless steel, aluminum and sheet moulded compound. It is 37 inches high and weighs 3.5 lbs. Each of the individual torches used along the route have been personally signed by the employees at Bombardier who assembled that unit. In the pre-run briefing, participants were told that if they happen to find the signature of Celine Dion on their torch, it isn’t the famous singer from Quebec, there actually is an employee named Celine Dion at Bombardier.

Purolator employees across the country were invited to participate in a lottery selection for spots on the relay. Of the 600 who jumped at the chance, only eight were selected. Gary was the only employee from Ontario to run. “As I jogged past my cheering section on the route” he stated, a huge Purolator flag was waving and it created a real lump in my throat. I’m having that flag signed by all of my co-workers and it will hang in a very special place in my rec room at home along with the torch and other memories of the event”.

The Brampton torch relay team celebrate before their run. Gary is at the top left.		Part of the contingent of family, friends and Purolator co-workers who braved the cold to cheer on their guy.

The torch flame exchange – The journey begins.		Gary is all smiles as he jogs the 300 metre route.