In case you didn’t know, you will be getting mail again on Monday or maybe Tuesday. I don’t know about you, but I didn’t even notice they were gone, other than my paper recycling went down. For a union in the position they are currently in (obsolete institution), you have to wonder what they are trying to accomplish. One clue would be their plea to the NDP to try and get amendments to the back to work legislation. Pay back for support I would think. The dumbest part of this filibuster is that the NDP likely LOST support because of their stand. That bastion of progressive thinking, the CBC, even had a poll that showed 58% support for the legislation. Very telling about the sympathy garnered by the CUPW.
One statement by an NDP member during the filibuster really got me. There are 50,000 families being affected by this strike, meaning the postal workers. I thought to myself, what about the millions of families that are being affected by not getting their mail.
It was at this point in my train of thought that I had an epiphany. I don’t care if they are on strike, and I would assume there are many more in my situation. So truthfully, it was about the 50,000 families and the fact that the entire gravy train is close to being flushed, partly through technology, and partly through the general public’s lack of trust in the institution.
I wonder how long it will be before the next step is taken. If I was running the corporation, attrition would be the means used to make this a profitable enterprise and be right sized to compete. What do I mean you say?
The plan is simple. A letter carrier in a residential area quits, bids off the route or retires. That route changes to a 1,2 or 3 day a week rotation for delivery. Eventually, all residential routes become non-delivery and are solely super boxes. What about businesses you say. Regular delivery is maintained in the downtown cores and industrial areas. Out of designated delivery area businesses would be handled by truck delivery. This deletion of door to door servcies only applies to pure residential areas. Businesses in those areas will be protected and delivered similar to courier routes, by subsidiaries like Purolator or subcontracted. The inside workers would also be reduced through attrition and right sized to declining volumes.
Yes, CUPW, it is over. Your ability to blackmail the country is finished. You reap what you sow, and believe me, you have sown a lot of resentment from the Canadian public over the years.
Related articles
- Canada Post back-to-work bill heads to Senate (cbc.ca)
- CUPW calls postal service reduction ‘partial lockout’ (cbc.ca)
- Back-to-work bill passes: posties could return to work Monday (windsorstar.com)
- Canada Post slashing mail delivery starting next week (ctv.ca)
- Giving CUPW less than they bargained for: an Ottawa tradition (macleans.ca)
