IMO they ARE overpaid for what they do.
The job requires not much more than basic motor skills and ability to read (carrier and sorter)

There are a lot of jobs that require a lot more than this and pay far less.

Its a nice job to have, wages are good, there is a lot of opportunity to make additional income by grabbing more than one route and making OT, plenty of vacation time. The carrier that use to come around at my old job, awesome guy, and he would always tell me he finishes his route in 2-3 hours and gets paid a full day.

As for having "highschool dropuouts" hand out the mail.....sorry, those guys are driving around in Lambo's and Ferrari's or leading one of the worlds largest computer companies..... jkjk.
I don't care where they come from or what they do as long as they do there job. A highschool dropout may do a far better job than a person with a degree because the are thank full for the job and not feeling like they are doing a job that's below them.

This happens every time there is a thread like this. Jealousy and judgement from those who spent years in school to be paid the same amount as those who did not.

People always want to increase min. wage and say that our wages are not enough to sustain a comfortable life in the Lower Mainland but then judge what others are paid and always claim it is too much.

One of my friends works in a high-end restaurant and walks out with $300 a day in tips on top of her hourly wage. She works 5-6 days a week and brings home about $75k/year. Doing it since high school. She makes more than her sister who is a teacher. Should we all shout "booooooo" and demand less tipping?

If its anything like the private sector, mistakes are monitored (their called KPI's - key performance indicators and they measure everything from origin on time to origin failure). A "high school dropout" that screwed up all the time wouldn't last. People in the private sector with comparable jobs do the same tasks for significantly less (though I do think they are on the low side). UPS pays their sorters $10.60/hr so it tends to attract students and mom's that would rather earn some money than none (while drivers make like $70k/yr but they are expected to work hard though). Regardless, you can see how much more generous being in a union environment is.

Letter carriers provide a certain soft skill to which we can never measure - they help out the old people by doing the rounds everyday (imagine a senior where the kids only come by once a week), they can alert police to grow ops, they bring notice to all the little things you take for granted (someone broke into your home in the morning, they alert police; a pipe burst because of adverse weather conditions, they alert the authorities which prevent further damage until you get home).

We would all love to be paid their salary for a job that requires minimal education but letter carriers perform a task to which I think is absolutely necessary.

That's not part of there job nor can you say all of them if any of them do these things. Therefor this point has nothing to do with there job.
Sure these things are nice, but the world gets by just fine without them.
You could just as easily say this is the job of your nabour.....
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That is just called being a nice human, dude.

Do any of you work for the post office or just reading 2nd hand information?

Here we go again...........

Typical RS comments. If you're jelly because doctors get paid too much, teachers get paid too much, construction workers get paid too much, traffic controllers get paid too much, yada, yada, yada.......... my advice - go ahead and take the training and become one yourself. Jeez........ what others get paid is nobody else's business. Even if they are public servants.

People negotiated for those wages, benefits, and working conditions. Garbage truck drivers. You couldn't pay me enough to do what they do day in and day out. If working for Canada Post is so great, then walk a mile (literally) in their shoes. I've worked at so many different jobs over the years. Let me tell you, each one had its challenges.

Some of you need to get a life. I'm not sure if you guys are way too fucking young or if you're just ignorant, or just plain spoiled. I've worked some pretty shitty jobs, man. Life's shitty sometimes and you deal with it. The last thing you should do is whine about other people's situations.

Some of you guys need to spend a month in poverty. Then you'll appreciate everything you have.

^^ Amen, brother!

Also, some of you guys need to go back to school and take more English classes.

You spew out shit about how little skill it takes to sort letters and deliver the mail, yet your posts are written at about grade two level.

I'm a former ESL student.........what's your fricken excuse?

Glad you brought this up.

Chicks, especially hot chicks get so much in tips. Can't blame people, I guess. Now that one of my sons works at a restaurant (back of the house), I make it a point, whenever I go out to eat at a restaurant, to ask if the tips are shared with everybody. If I like the food, I will tip more........... I don't care if chick/server has nice legs, smile, or nice cleavage, not in any particular order, btw, I won't tip much unless the food is good and the tip is shared with everybody else.

Now, having said that, in my younger days, tits and ass always got more tips, LOLOLOLOLOL.

I have friend who is now a teacher, but she used to work at bars and restaurants in her younger days. And, yes, she is smokin' hot! She prefers the teaching job over the higher paying waitress job, because being a teacher, she has a career and of course, the great benefits and retirement package.

Plus, she'll keep earning more as her pay scale rises with each year under her belt. And, she doesn't have to rely on her looks - prancing around in her tight dress to get more money............ time to take a cold shower, LOL.

I should point out that although my friend is very good looking, the reason her tips are so high is because the restaurant is high-end and pricey. Dress-code is very specific and not slooty.

Letter carrier here, stationed out of victoria.

i wont feed the discussion too much, but i will share a few things and maybe my opinion on this whole situation.

Firstly, we were not made aware of the changes prior to the press conference that was held this past wed morning. We first heard of the changes happening on the radio or from other co workers. In previous years, we had been made aware of and seen other changes occurring within the company, but this latest notice was not brought to our attention before the media release. It was an unfortunate way of hearing about it, but it is what it is.

Secondly, there has been discussion brought up about the ease of the job and the pay scale etc. Everyone has there own opinion about this, but i will offer this. We have a variety of people that are mail carriers, some with lots of post secondary, others with high school, others with nothing. They come from all walks of life. Whatever the case may be, to do this job, you have to have a sense of urgency. You have to be quick on your feet, think logically and be motivated. This is all comes into play when its a torrential downpour outside or if you are walking through the snow. Some may not believe you need book smarts, but you definitely need street smarts.

Regarding the ease of the job. Typical day is 2.5hrs of prep, 3.5-4hrs of delivery, 1hr breaks/lunches. Yes some ppl out there get there routes done earlier/faster and go home and/or pick up extra overtime, but that depends on how hard you want to work. Keep in mind that its the same ppl that rush to finish there routes, that are also broken and complaining about bad backs,legs, hips, shoulders etc.

The delivery portion of the day is the hardest. Foot walkers are usually carrying anywhere from 14-22kg worth of mail for the duration of the delivery. Obviously that varies on the daily volumes. Also we are delivering that through various weather conditions, cold snaps, hot streaks and everything in between. Couple that with walking up and down hills, stairs, apt buildings, it can make for a challenging day, but it can also make for a intense workout, again its all in how you make it.

If you still feel like the job is easy, talk to your local carrier next time you see him on the street and get his opinion on it. Doesn't hurt to ask. most of us are pretty approachable. haha.

I don't have much to comment on with regards to the change from door to door delivery to the community boxes. I have been delivering both methods for quite a while now, and both have there ups and downs from a job and security aspect.

If anything else comes to surface that isn't brought up by the media and adds to the discussion, I will bring it forward.


*edit*
Someone made a comment about the use of taxi's. I'll explain that a little bit.

So most letter carrier depots service a particular region or small demographic. Because we do that, it's not always feasible for the letter carrier to walk out of the depot to start his/her route. So in that case we get taxi'ed out to the start of the route and then get taxi'ed back at the end of the day. By using this mode of transportation, it is actually cheaper to get the carrier out to his route rather than to pay 1 driver for 8hrs to shuttle letter carriers around to their start/stop points. When routes are designed this is taken into consideration and the distance and cost of each fare is calculated at the time of the routes creation.
(I have also worked alongside the route measurement teams to build and design routes from start to finish so I have a little bit background in this area)

Knew you were a carrier from a previous thread. Thanks for your post, btw. It must be hard for you when people spew nonsense in threads like this. You guys have a pretty tough job. Thankless at times. Like bus drivers, you guys have to deal with all kinds of stupidity. At the same time, I think most of you are genuinely nice and take your job seriously.

Also, with you posting in this thread, it reminds people that there are RS members who are postal workers.

It's funny how a lot of RS members hate it when they are unfairly portrayed as a bunch of dumbass streetracers or ricers, yet they're quick to jump on others without thinking.

In any case, the world is what it is........ people just think about themselves and nobody else.

there's this one girl in West Van that drives the small vans. Every time I've seen her...I've seen her talking to her friend via blue tooth. And that's quite a few times.

Now those Small Van drivers have a sweet gig. Drive door to door.

The majority of us love our job. I've been with this company for 13 years. 4 of which have been as a letter carrier. I have worked almost every position and every shift imaginable and I have the most amount of fun and taken pride in my job the most while being a carrier. It's hard to verbalize why I feel this way, but I guess it might be because i see an end result to what I do on a daily basis. This time of the year morseo. I work a lot of hours during the holiday season, and yes part of it is selfish and for the money, but I honestly do it BC it feels good to get that bday gift or Xmas present to a house that has been waiting for it. If by delivering a parcel to someone that has been waiting for it, puts a smile on their face and changes their day for the better, than I have done my job.

We all are quick to judge sometimes. Sometimes it's justified, other times it's not. Being in this particular job, the first thing most people say and think is, "I can do that job, it's so easy, all he/she has to do is walk around and put mail in the boxes..."

There were a few with that mentality that were short listed to be hired not too long ago. Needless to say, the majority of the failed to make it through the training, and the select few that we're hired, didn't make it more than few weeks on the road.

^ can you move to the mainland and work the North Burnaby route?

I will leave small gifts on a table outside the house on a daily basis. From what the wife says, it sounds like there's always someone new delivering the mail every week.

If I didn't have a house on the island, I would gladly move over there. I have a lot of friends and family, so the transition wouldn't be too difficult. Lol.

^ I heard there isn't much movement in terms of transfer from Victoria to metro Vancouver. Just a growing wait list.
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Food for thought:

Canada Post CEO Deepak Chopra is a board member of the think-tank that urged mail changes | National Post

Hmm... How many presidents, SVP's, and VP's do we need to run a national mail service? And why are we only cutting the front line serviceman while leaving all the upper management intact?

Love all the typical RS retards who can't spell or compose a coherent paragraph expecting everyone (except themselves, of course) to live in fucking poverty.

These are the same retards who say things like, "An E46 M3 isn't even worth worrying about crashing it" because they're apparently balling out of control and an M3 is nothing but a cheap toy to them.

Shut the fuck up.

Think Tank......... every time I hear those words, I crack up.


Right up there with "sperm bank." Hey, that rhymes.......... I'm a poet and I didn't even know it. LOLOLOLOLOL

My comment (not complaint) about pay is based upon the fact that it does not take education to hand out papers (not that much). It is a service that is needed, which can reflect some level of being worth more but it just does not make sense IMO.
I don't care what they make, I make enough to keep my family happy and that's all I care about, but the topic is here and I voiced my opinion about it.

regardless of what you think, clearly these cuts are all about $$$ and specifically cutting back pensions of the people they will be laying off

therefore the government itself is thinking that an over payment is going on or this would not be happening.

it's the exact same reason why they are pushing for Beer/wine stores inside food stores etc. privatize the shit out of the public sector and claw back as many pensions as they can

The government is seeing the plague that is coming with an aging population of public sector workers raking in insane pension plans. It doesn't make much sense that people who worked as hard if not harder throughout their lives, had a better education, generated more profit for their employers, etc, etc, etc end up eating cat food when they retire while someone who bags beer at the liquor store lives it up with a publicly funded pension.

And yea, obviously the private sector worker probably should have planned better, but thats not reality these days, and the people eating the cat food are costing the government more money than the well off pensioner, balance has to come back into view.

Regardless of what ANYONE thinks regarding pay, this is going to effect a lot of people. All the postal people I have ever dealt with were all very nice people and I don't like the fact that many of them may be loosing there jobs.

I have always enjoyed seeing our mail carrier, always in a good mood, often times had jokes and stuff. Awesome guy and to think that he would loose the job because of cuts just makes me feels :(