Canada Post Strike: Evolution or Extinction

I wasn't going to comment on the Canadian Postal strike because it no longer effects me but it does. I was fearful for the future of the employees because for the most part Canada Post has become obsolete. Email and the Internet has greatly reduced letter mail volume. Yet at the same time the Internet has increased the demand for parcel delivery. So what's the problem?

Why isn't Canada Post making a profit? As most of you know, I used to work for Canada Post many years ago. I was a letter carrier in Surrey, BC. I became a shop steward, grievance officer, Second Vice president of the local so I could run the newsletter and was acting president of the local for quite a while. I was fired for Union activity and Regional withdrew my grievance.

No hard feelings. I'm far better off but since I took one for the team, I do care about the future of that service. We know that during a strike the media often misrepresents the real issues on the table. We see the anti Union outlets rant about the Union's demand the corporation pay for gender transformation surgery. I'll talk about it but that's obviously not the primary concern of the rank and file members paying Union dues nor is it the corporation's primary concern.

The corporation's primary concern is profitability and rightly so. When I was with Canada Post the corporation would turn massive profits every year and pay dividends to the government which increase tax revenue and reduces taxes for citizens. That was a win win situation. Unfortunately that has dramatically changed despite the rising demand for parcel delivery.

The corporation wants to be able to have affordable weekend delivery of parcels. That is not an unrealistic expectation but I don't see it as a solution. The problem is bigger than that. The problem revolves around the old model of delivery versus the new model.

The old model was based on the letter mail reality. Instead of sending an email people would write letters and send Christmas cards. The Internet has changed that. Yes people do still send documents and credit cards in the mail but the mail volume has changed.

I'm not going to debate that. It is what it is. So if we want to evolve and embrace the new reality we need to ask ourselves which way do we want to go? Do we just want to be mules packing around junk mail and flyers or do we want to be more than that?

When I was fired from Canad Post for Union activity, (I ran MoyaGreene dot com) I was denied EI so I had to find work to support my kids as a single parent. I went to one of those labour ready places and found a job with no future. I took one look a their operation and said, these people aren't making a profit. They will never be able to pay me a fair wage so I didn't go back the next day. Eventually I ended up with Costco. They are making a profit. They can afford to pay their employees a fair wage. If your employer isn't making a profit you have zero job security.

That means as it stands the prognosis of Canada Post is not good. Unless it evolves it will become extinct. That is the reality we all face. Although CUPW has evolved considerably since it's punitive destruction of all the former LCUC ideals, CUPW is still clinging to it's socialist roots.

The Union claims that "Canada Post is a public service, not a profit-driven corporation, even though it operated profitably for many years." That is the ideological difference. If Canada Post doesn't make a profit it will become extinct and be replaced with another company that does. Purolator perhaps which is governed by Teamsters not Communists.

Without trying to be inflammatory or disrespectful as I genuinely have no hard feelings about how I was screwed over by CUPW and disagree with their extreme roots, we need to face that fact.

Anyone who has been involved in organizing workplaces know that in the private sector as soon as a group of workers form a union, the employer often goes out of business just to break the union and then starts a new workplace somewhere else. That is a constant reality we face.

If CUPW doesn't come to an agreement about the future viability of Canada Post, the government could in theory dissolve Canada Post and give all that work to Purolator which already has the new model of delivery. What do I mean by the new model of delivery? Wait 'till I tell ye.

Canada Post's model consists of cases for door to door delivery based on the old lettermail volumes. It was old but effective. Times have changed. Volumes have changed. Amazon doesn't have those but they are incredibly busy and are making a profit. That's not a plug for Amazon because Amazon isn't a good employer and doesn't pay their employees well. I'm just saying Fed EX and UPS have a different model.

Back in the day they used to complain that they couldn't compete with Canada Post. Since Canada Post was already going to an address with a letter, sending a courier or priority post was cheap for them because they were already going there. Now that model is no longer viable. We have to adapt to the new model or become extinct. Deficits can't continue forever. Taxpayers aren't going to want to give up schools or hospitals to pay for CUPW's refusal to evolve.

Now I've got no love for the upper management at Canada Post. For the most part they were as*holes. They say the company gets the Union it deserves and that's exactly what's happened. However those old ideals on both sides have become extinct in the real world. In the real world people are too busy making a profit to waste money over ideology.

CUPW also claims that "Postal workers deliver to every address in the country, including where competitors won’t go because they can’t make a profit." That is true. Amazon uses Canada Post for rural areas because it's easier to make a profit in urban areas.

The new Union president complained about how the corporation paid for all these new vehicles that aren't being used. Why would they do that? Maybe they have a plan. Maybe they want to get rid of foot walks because they're no longer practicle and want to make every route mobile. Oh but wait. If you've only workered in a plant or retail wickets you'd have no understanding of that.

The number of calls is increasing but the letter mail volume is decreasing. It's more spread out.

When every house was getting a ton of letter mail every day foot walks made sense. Now they don't because not everyone gets documents sent to them every day. Now mobile routes make more sense because parcels are the priority. That's going to require a major structural change that will ultimately benefit the employees. Changing the schedules so some people work weekends for regular pay not overtime makes sense in the real world.

Now a word on gender transition surgery. One of the signs a striker was wearing said Demand Pay Equality. WTF? This isn't 1960. Men and women get paid the same wage for doing the same job. It doesn't matter what race, religion or gender you are. If someone is transgender they get paid the same as everyone else. That is equality.

Paying for gender transition surgery is a different matter. If someone is an adult and they want to change their gender that is their right. Forcing me to pay for their surgery and give up some of my sick days to cover it is another matter. If an adult wants to use fentanyl or crystal meth that is their choice but forcing me to pay for their drugs is another matter.

The problem with gender transition surgery is that it doesn't end there. After the surgery you become a life long drug addict. Those meds cost a lot of money. Asking the corporation to pay for that is not unrealistic but if they do, that means the corporation will have to take away other sick or medical benefits from other employees to pay for it and that isn't equality.

Paying for that surgery for an employee's child is not only costly but evil. Puberty blockers block the development of a child's brain. Surgical mutilation of a child is immoral. That's not something other employees are going to want to give up some sick days over. So here's the choice: Evolve or be replaced. Speaking of which, if you want a contract you should endorse a raid. This is an open period. Purolator has Teamsters. If CUPW sees another raid they will put their interests above everyone else's and settle instantly. Teamsters would take that work in a heartbeat.

Teamsters won a Covid vaccine grievance for Purolator. CUPW lost. I can't believe Thomas Jolliffe is still alive doing arbitrations. PSAC even won theirs. They represent managers as well.

BTW what ever happened to the Postal bank? That was a good idea.