Canada Post Strike

[Slifer]

^I know right. Funny thing is, it costs more money to pick up your passport in person? Makes no sense at all. If anything, it should be cheaper since they save on postage.

[Hehe]

No shit. If anything, personal pickup is more secure as you could verify the identity of the person picking up.

When CP delivers passport for kids and wife, never once have they asked for id or anything.

[EvoLove]

Fk my life now ill never get my credit card..... ffffuuuuuuuuuuuuuu

[lilaznviper]

i won't have my credit card either. got a package today... going tomorrow to get the package before they lock out on monday

[yray]

Just lock them out if they are unwilling to calm down

[Gnomes]

From the looks if it, a strong reason to reject binding arbitration is because the union knows their own demands will not be given by the arbitrator - asking too much for that new hire pension plan?

[Timpo]

I wonder who is going to win...management or union?

Canada Post has been losing profit constantly for mail delivery.
But parcel revenues are increasing due to e-commerce.

https://www.canadapost.ca/web/en/blo...t=newsreleases

[Armind]

I too am waiting for my damn credit card.

[Gh0stRider]

Canada Post drops threat to lock out workers | CTV News

https://www.canadapost.ca/web/en/blo...t=newsreleases

Posted on July 10, 2016 by Canada Post in News Releases
OTTAWA – Earlier today, the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour, MaryAnn Mihychuk, encouraged both Canada Post and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers to continue their discussions beyond the lockout notice.

Accordingly the Corporation has withdrawn its 72-hour notice. As a result, there will not be a lockout, which will allow both parties to focus their efforts on serious negotiations.

We are also expecting the union to honour their repeated public statements that they have no plans to issue a strike notice. Assurance from both parties that the postal system will remain open for business while we negotiate will provide the certainty that Canadians and our employees are looking for.

Canada Post is committed to negotiating agreements that are fair to our employees while providing affordable pricing and service to Canadians.

[MG1]

Good, maybe my Esso car wash gift card will arrive after all. Won't need it until winter, lol. Groupon, plus eBates 6% off deal, ftw!

[lowda9]

Yess! My parts from rockauto wont be stuck.

[Timpo]

Canada Post is right: Defined-benefit pension plans are unaffordable for any employer
Howard Levitt | July 13, 2016 1:41 PM ET

Canada Post is right: Defined-benefit pension plans are unaffordable for any employer | Financial Post


A postal worker delivers mail as an ongoing labour dispute between the Canadian Union of Postal Workers and Canada Post continue.

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers labour dispute with Canada Post — its 21st time in the past 50 years since the union was formed — reminds of the adage “You should be careful what you ask for.” Times have changed.

There was a time when a postal strike would have knocked Canada to its knees. Now, in an era of emails, fax machines, and couriers, fewer people use Canada Post. Canadians, by and large, will give a collective yawn to a postal strike. The union’s position in this dispute belies its lack of bargaining power.

Postal workers are compensated based on that historical bargaining power. They are dramatically overpaid relative to their qualifications and skill, on average letter carriers in urban areas make $50,000 a year, rural carriers, about $39,000. But by my estimation the job, which pays several times the minimum wage, can be performed by anyone regardless of education, experience, or training. In a genuinely free market, these workers would make much less.

But salaries are the least of it. Like most public sector employees, they also enjoy defined-benefit pension plans, which no longer exist in the private sector. The relatively few private sector employees fortunate enough to enjoy any pensions have defined-contribution plans. With a defined-benefit plan, a set pension amount is guaranteed for life, regardless of how the plan performs, whereas defined-contribution plans pay out according to the value of the monies in the plan.

Keeping it’s defined benefit pensions, CUPW said at the start of the labour dispute, was its key issue. When it began receiving blow-back from taxpayers, it quickly revised its talking point to “pay equity.” Now, what they are arguing is that because rural postal carriers are predominantly female, and urban letter carriers male, Canada Post is purportedly breaching pay equity legislation.

Yet, the existing wage disparity for letter carriers in urban vs. rural areas was negotiated by the union based on living costs in each. This is a red herring meant to develop public sympathy for a union that deserves none.

To be clear, the major issue here is Canada Post’s demand that new employees receive defined-contribution plans while existing workers retain their unaffordable defined-benefit pensions. To put this in perspective, the shortfall for Canada Post’s defined-benefit pension plan as of the first quarter of 2016 is $6.1 billion, up from about $3.4 billion two years ago. With interest rates likely to remain low, the shortfall will continue to grow exponentially. That deficit is picked up by Canadian taxpayers, in addition to $3 of pension contributions for every dollar paid by postal workers.

As Bill Tufts, author of Pension Ponzi, notes, the city of St. John’s, NL, last year, facing potential insolvency, converted new employees into a defined contribution plan, the same route Canada Post suggests. I have long noted it makes little sense for Canadian taxpayers to be paying its employees i.e. public servants, including employees of Crown Corporations, more in wages or benefits than they themselves earn for jobs with the same qualification, workload and skill levels.

It’s time Canada Post use its substantial bargaining power to at least freeze wages and convert the defined-benefit plan to a defined-contribution plan for all employees. It has an historic opportunity to begin equalizing its employees wages and benefits to comparative private sector jobs such as couriers and those handing out flyers door to door.

Canada Post is well situated to use this opportunity with a union without bargaining power to redress the historic overcompensation of its members.

Canada Post’s capitulation has been foretold by its request for arbitration which, in an act of folly, the union rejected. It is of note that arbitrators, who would determine the dispute, without a strike or lock-out, have historically favoured unions.

(The over-inflated wages and benefits in the public sectors have almost uniformly been imposed by arbitrators, not through a strike or lock-out.)

Canada Post has the largest number of employees among federal Crown corporations. Its pension shortfall is proportionally the largest. It is well situated to use this opportunity with a union without bargaining power to redress the historic overcompensation of its members. If it succeeds and members quit as a result (which they won’t), they are easily replaceable. If postal workers opt to strike, it would be seamlessly simple to replace them for the duration of a strike, with employees delighted to have a job at lower wages than the incumbents.

Canadians should not permit Canada Post management to relinquish this opportunity. Our public financing depends upon rolling back federal service defined-benefit plans. Given CUPW’s weak bargaining power we may not obtain another such opportunity. Canada Post should not be permitted to foil it by punting the dispute to an arbitrator.

[jeedee]

Had a Canadapost worker deliver a package last Thursday

Funny thing was he was wearing the uniform but was driving his own personal car (not the CP truck or CP van) Looked sketchy as hell lol

Usually they deliver to my area at 10:30am but that day it was 2:30pm. Weird.

[Traum]

Originally Posted by Timpo

Canada Post is right: Defined-benefit pension plans are unaffordable for any employer
Howard Levitt | July 13, 2016 1:41 PM ET

Canada Post is right: Defined-benefit pension plans are unaffordable for any employer | Financial Post

The columnist here seems mis-guided, even though he had nearly identified the problem himself -- it isn't the defined benefit pension plan that is unaffordable. Rather, it is:

1) the high salary relative to the required skill level that creates a high payroll in the first place, and

2) the high salary resulting in high payouts for these defined pension plans

Had the salary been properly matched to the required skill level, a defined pension plan would not be unaffordable. So the problem isn't the pension -- it's the pay.

In a properly managed scenario, the same job between a public and private sector should differ with:

a) the private sector position pays a higher salary
b) the private sector position could potentially require longer working hours
c) the private sector position offers no defined pension plans
d) the public sector position pays a lower salary
e) the public sector position offers a better work-life balance
f) the public sector position offers a defined pension plan

In the end, the benefits of the public vs private sector jobs should balance themselves out. People just choose one or the other depending on the preferences and risk tolerances. You want a higher paying job? Go work in private sector and plan your retirement finances out yourself. You want a better work-life balance? or don't want to deal with retirement planning? Go for a public sector job.

If you go work in a public sector job, don't fxxking complain that it pays lower than a similar private sector position. By the same reasoning, if you work in a private sector job, don't fxxking complain that it forces you to work long hours and doesn't come with a pension.

[bobbinka]

Originally Posted by Traum

In the end, the benefits of the public vs private sector jobs should balance themselves out. People just choose one or the other depending on the preferences and risk tolerances. You want a higher paying job? Go work in private sector and plan your retirement finances out yourself. You want a better work-life balance? or don't want to deal with retirement planning? Go for a public sector job.

If you go work in a public sector job, don't fxxking complain that it pays lower than a similar private sector position. By the same reasoning, if you work in a private sector job, don't fxxking complain that it forces you to work long hours and doesn't come with a pension.

[Nlkko]

I've done a government contract tech job. Pay is pretty juice.

The lower (not low) pay tends to fall to lower skill jobs.

Private just have the higher ceilling (execs director level) that's all.

[Coren]

Did you know UPS, FedEx, and Purolator employees get paid more than Canada post employees? So if you want to compare courier jobs, Canada Post employees deserve a raise. BUT those private companies also have it easier. They don't have to walk to every single house to deliver mail everyday. They only have to drop off parcels which saves their body wear and tear.

About the pension, did you know the shortfall only comes because they have to report it as 100% funded as of today? That means if Canada Post were to close up shop today, they would be short 6 billion dollars to pay out to all their employees. However, no other pension fund in the country is funded the same way.

And one more thing, NO TAXPAYER money has went to Canada Post in the last 20something years. It has been the other way around, the profits from Canada Post have been sent to the government as general revenue to pay for whatever it is they need.

[Traum]

Fxxk... and I thought we narrowly avoided this...

CUPW issues strike notice after it says Canada Post refused special mediator - NEWS 1130

OTTAWA – The union representing a majority of workers at Canada Post has issued a 72-hour notice of job action as it tries to bargain a collective agreement with the Crown corporation.

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers says the notice spells out what actions it is planning, but stops short of a full-blown walkout.

CUPW national president Mike Palecek says Canada Post forced the labour disruption by refusing to accept a request from the federal labour minister to continue negotiations with the help of a special mediator.

But a spokesman for the agency says that’s not the case.

The union’s strike mandate was set to expire at midnight.

The two sides have been in negotiations for more than nine months but are far apart on key issues including pay equity for rural carriers and proposed changes to the Canada Post pension plan.

[MG1]

Expect slowing down in service, said one news report. Um, how much slower can service be?

[XplicitLuder]

Originally Posted by MG1

Expect slowing down in service, said one news report. Um, how much slower can service be?

trust me, it can get worse lol businesses who switched to us a month ago while it wasn't sure if CP was striking or not, complained a TON cus of how bad it was getting

[bobbinka]

Originally Posted by MG1

Expect slowing down in service, said one news report. Um, how much slower can service be?

[underscore]

Has anyone else recently gotten a new community mailbox? Ignoring the pros and the cons of the thing, does anyone else thing installing new boxes in the middle of this seems a bit odd? I know they must've been ordered ages ago but still.

[Timpo]

Originally Posted by Traum

Fxxk... and I thought we narrowly avoided this...

CUPW issues strike notice after it says Canada Post refused special mediator - NEWS 1130

ok so are they officially going on strike ?

[Gucci Mane]

fuck, now i may not get my passport next week. great.

[Timpo]

oh shit! the strike will officially begin Sunday, August 28, 11:59pm ET

Canada Post, CUPW agree to mediation after union files strike notice - Business - CBC News
Canada Post: Union representing workers issues 72-hour strike notice | Globalnews.ca
http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/union-r...tice-1.3043877