Canada Post Strike

[PIMking]

Unions: getting our fair share of money from the rich man

Union president: hahaha stupid simpletons paying me to play golf as they pay me to work!

Never will I pay someone to work, my mother owns dump trucks in Iowa and we ran into the union issue up there. We owned our own trucks and we would have to pay them $200/mo just to work! how could this union fight for my workers rights? how could the fight for my pay? insurance? they couldn't and I couldn't believe that people fell for that pyramid scheme

[Locke]

I do the taxes for several postal workers so based on conversations with them and, admittedly, 'anecdotal' evidence, I know a fair bit about the workings of the job.

That also means I have a fairly good idea about their range of pay as well.

Not one of them ever complained of 'over work' or their pensions, let alone their wage.

Delivering packages is a different ball game, but as far as being a letter carrier is concerned, its gravy work. It sucks when the weather sucks, but thats about the extent of it.

[DownhillGoat]

Good news for anybody with parcels, etc in the mail:

Postal Strike Averted

Originally Posted by Postmedia News

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers issued a news release Sunday saying there will be no "strike activity" on that day and it will remain "business as usual across our network.

[snip]

the union said that it has "reaffirmed that its goal is to negotiate a settlement to this round of collective bargaining with Canada Post"

[Sylvanfan]

An artical I read earlier says they also have an agreement to still deliver EI, welfare, or any other form of social assistance cheques to people.

I'm just glad I finally got my freaking Tax return 2 months after I net filed the damn thing, and about 5 days before a potential strike. Of course the final settlement cheque from my Uncles esate that finally got settled, will likely be delayed now, and probably get lost for two months as well.

[DownhillGoat]

Originally Posted by Sylvanfan

An article I read earlier says they also have an agreement to still deliver EI, welfare, or any other form of social assistance cheques to people.

Yes, that's part of their CBA.

[burnin_vernon]

Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger

Actually most mail is delivered by that type of person. Virtually all superboxes in Calgary have mail delivered by contract workers who get paid #### and work long, tough hours.

Canada Post employees are useless and overpaid. Anyone who tries is threatened by their boss (a la Newman on Seinfeld) because they make everyone else look bad.

I've had a long, terrible week so I'm going to stop reading this thread for now and go to bed.

I would just like to say, as a Canada Post letter carrier, that you (and several others here) don't have a clue what you are talking about. Your posts in this thread should be struck from the record.

[FFR]

I just drove by the Canada Post building in the NE near McKnight and it looks like they have gone on strike or something. There are lots of police officers and random Canada Post mail trucks parked all over the parking lot (not in spots). There are also some parked in the Tim Horton's parking lot across the street. There are postal workers standing around all over the parking lot and near the streets and the Tim Horton's is full of them as well. I checked the news and I saw that Canada Post rejected the unions offer within the last hour, but don't they have to give 72 hours notice to strike?

[CaptainCrunch]

Let em strike, bring in the scabs.

[pylon]

Originally Posted by burnin_vernon

I've had a long, terrible week so I'm going to stop reading this thread for now and go to bed.

I would just like to say, as a Canada Post letter carrier, that you (and several others here) don't have a clue what you are talking about. Your posts in this thread should be struck from the record.

Unions are kinda like that. Anyone with a controversial opinion that goes against the status quo, should be silenced and ignored.

[silentsim]

Got an important parcel coming in tomorrow. Glad there's no strike yet :P

[SeeBass]

Originally Posted by Sylvanfan

An artical I read earlier says they also have an agreement to still deliver EI, welfare, or any other form of social assistance cheques to people.

I'm just glad I finally got my freaking Tax return 2 months after I net filed the damn thing, and about 5 days before a potential strike. Of course the final settlement cheque from my Uncles esate that finally got settled, will likely be delayed now, and probably get lost for two months as well.

I can't believe that 80% plus of that isn't just electronic transfer now. No matter how poor you are do we all not just have a bank account.

I am really out of touch I guess.

[DownhillGoat]

Originally Posted by SeeBass

I can't believe that 80% plus of that isn't just electronic transfer now. No matter how poor you are do we all not just have a bank account.

Yeah, but you have to pay a fee to get it out at the ATM. The cheques you can cash right at the bar and drop it into the VLT. No messing around with that $1.50 ATM charge.

[FFR]

Finally some news on what I saw at the Canada Post oulet today:
http://www.globaltvbc.com/Suspicious...458/story.html

Apparently a suspicious package evacuated the building.

However, other news says the union president feels a strike is inevitable. So continue current discussions.

[corporatejay]

Originally Posted by kunkstyle

Yeah, but you have to pay a fee to get it out at the ATM. The cheques you can cash right at the bar and drop it into the VLT. No messing around with that $1.50 ATM charge.

I was under the impression that you g et one free withdrawl for every direct deposit.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Originally Posted by burnin_vernon

I've had a long, terrible week so I'm going to stop reading this thread for now and go to bed.

I would just like to say, as a Canada Post letter carrier, that you (and several others here) don't have a clue what you are talking about. Your posts in this thread should be struck from the record.

I know exactly what I'm talking about. I managed a retail postal outlet for 2 years and worked there for a total of 4 years. I've dealt directly with the Depot, with the drivers, with the Manager of the depot, with Canada Post on a corporate level etc.

I've met dozens of Canada Post employees. Many of them very nice. Virtually all agreed that the Union was ridiculous and caused them to be overpaid. Pretty much all usually agreed that the Union stifled any will to work and succeed and that the lack of a merit based system sucked and killed productivity.

Every single mail carrier who was contracted was overworked and underpaid. They all got the worst of the jobs.

If you feel that your job is too difficult and you aren't due the compensation you deserve - both in terms of salary and benefits - please explain to me why you believe so. I'd be very interested to see why you feel that way.

[RougeUnderoos]

Originally Posted by FFR

I just drove by the Canada Post building in the NE near McKnight and it looks like they have gone on strike or something. There are lots of police officers and random Canada Post mail trucks parked all over the parking lot (not in spots). There are also some parked in the Tim Horton's parking lot across the street. There are postal workers standing around all over the parking lot and near the streets and the Tim Horton's is full of them as well. I checked the news and I saw that Canada Post rejected the unions offer within the last hour, but don't they have to give 72 hours notice to strike?

I caught the end of the story on the news -- looks like some genius sent an envelope full of white powder to that place.

That kinda thing oughta gain 'em plenty of public support.

The story is not up on the Calgary Sun site.

[Finny61]

Radio said that somebody mailed a parcel full of corn starch? Reminds me I need to send a box full of Oregano to my Dad for Fathers Day.

Note to Cecil - I have an amazon order that just shipped, noticed it showed UPS on the e-mail, should be all good.

[MrMastodonFarm]

http://www.globaltvbc.com/Canada+Pos...763/story.html

– The union representing Canada Post employees says it will file a 72-hour strike notice on Friday.

“After months of talks, it’s time to draw our line in the sand,” said Bev Ray, president of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) in Edmonton.

“We have now reached the point where we may have to give notice that in 72 hours, we will be forced to strike if Canada Post does not drop its rollbacks and address some of our demands.”

[CaramonLS]

Canada Post employees should be paid on a part piecework / part base salary compensation structure.

However, the union would absolutely refuse that idea.

[burnin_vernon]

Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger

I know exactly what I'm talking about. I managed a retail postal outlet for 2 years and worked there for a total of 4 years. I've dealt directly with the Depot, with the drivers, with the Manager of the depot, with Canada Post on a corporate level etc.

I've met dozens of Canada Post employees. Many of them very nice. Virtually all agreed that the Union was ridiculous and caused them to be overpaid. Pretty much all usually agreed that the Union stifled any will to work and succeed and that the lack of a merit based system sucked and killed productivity.

Every single mail carrier who was contracted was overworked and underpaid. They all got the worst of the jobs.

If you feel that your job is too difficult and you aren't due the compensation you deserve - both in terms of salary and benefits - please explain to me why you believe so. I'd be very interested to see why you feel that way.

Anyone who tries is threatened by their boss (a la Newman on Seinfeld) because they make everyone else look bad.

This is what you said that made you lose credibility. The ridiculousness of the statement almost made me think you were joking.

I don't know where to begin. First of all, any CP worker I know isn't really concerned about the wage increase. The major sticking point is that they want to take away our sick time. Currently we get about 1 1/2 days per month which can be accumulated and used for illness or injury. We have to have a doctors note every time we use it, and there is no credit for having extra days when we retire. Most of us have over 200 sick days saved for when we hit 50+ years old and the wear and tear of the job has claimed knees, feet, necks, backs, shoulders, etc.. I work with a 50 year old who currently needs a hip replacement and is walking his 10K a day until he gets the operation.

Is it an easy job? Sure, when you finally get your own route and as long as you're in great physical condition. But a lot of people just can't hack the physical aspect; one time we had an accomplished marathon runner come back at 4PM, puking her guts out on her first day. I was what I would have thought, very fit, but it's a whole different beast doing this than, say, going for a 10K jog.

As a relief carrier, I get sent to different cities all the time where I don't have a clue where I'm going. I sort about 1500 pieces of mail (minimum, some routes have triple that) plus parcels into a case with anywhere from 500-1200 addresses that I've never seen before. The average credit we get to sort a case is about 2 hours. On a walk I know well, I might get lucky to do it in 2 1/2. On one I've never done before, it takes 4 hours minimum.

So I'm already behind and I haven't even left the station. The supervisors are pissed off that you might have to work into OT when I haven't even taken a break and I'm going to skip my lunch. Too many of these OTs and you get written up. A couple of those and you get suspended, then maybe fired.

Then I get out there and I deal with houses without numbers on them, businesses that close when they want, loose dogs, or whatever other reasons I have to bring back mail. I dump this in my satchel and carry it around all day as it accumulates on top of the 40-50lbs of mail I'm already carrying. In the winter, my goal is to finish before it gets dark out. In the summer, it's to finish before I'm dehydrated.

As for the regular carriers with their own routes, the only reason they are done early is because they do not deliver their routes according to the corporations case plan. It still takes most longer to sort than they are credited for but we make up time by taking precarious shortcuts and criss-crossing streets. Plus most of us don't take breaks or lunch and we walk much faster than we are supposed to. Really, this is stupid of us, because we are risking safety/injury to complete the job more quickly than we are scheduled for. The corporation sees this, then suddenly routes become longer. But if someone told you you could go home when the work is done, wouldn't you speed up?

I signed up for the cold winters and snow, the 40 degree summers, and the walking 10km per day with the weight of a small child on my shoulders. To me, it's worth all this for the wage and benefits I'd receive. I still think it's a good job and I like it because I get to work outside all day and not be bothered by anyone except for the occasional jerk on my route. I get fresh air and exercise every day.

But it can be very stressful (mentally and physically) and I don't know who would put themselves through the stress of the job for much less. Our union isn't asking for much more, we are asking for things to remain the same. Canada Post makes too much revenue to say they need to make the cuts they want to.

These are my thoughts as a temporary employee. I currently receive no sick time or benefits, or scheduled vacation time.