Wednesday, July 6, 2016

The Looming Mail Disruption

Once again, Canada Post and it's unionized work force are at loggerheads with each other.
And I'm torn.
On one hand, as a small business, who is dependent upon the post office for shipping services, I'm pissed off. Neither side seems to care at all about the impact this dispute will have on me and others like me.
On the other hand I a member of a labour union, in my other guise as a stagehand and arena rigger, and some of the demands being made by management are a outrageous.
At the same time, the union is being rather short sited on a major sticking point, that is a change to the pension plans for new hires.
The day of the defined benefit pension plan is over. And it's time the union accepts this. Now they should get something in return for agreeing to the change, but holding the mail as ransom is unacceptable.
And the company needs to address the massive pay inequity issue between rural and urban letter carriers. The company's argument is specious at best.
But everything else aside, both sides need to stop holding the country ransom because they can't figure it out.

As far as my business is concerned, as of today, I'm not shipping out any orders for parts or kits until I know that mail service is assured. Finished freight cars will go by courier.
Sorry.

It's days like this where I hate Canada Post. Llabour and management.

3 comments:

Shop Foreman said...

Pierre:
I've pretty much decided to take my business offline for the duration, I just don't see a point to it most of my sales are internet based and the only way I ship has been by post, I looked at the various couriers and it's just not worth the increase in cost and time to me. Whether I'll reopen after the mail disruption remains to be seen.
I'm also pretty upset with the attitude of the teenager that is our Prime Minister. “We do not feel, unlike previous governments, that it is the immediate responsibility to be heavy-handed, We respect labour. We respect the need to come to terms at the bargaining table and that is what we are going to continue to work on.”
Really this guy is the Boss and he needs to start acting like it, and protect the industry of small Canadian business.

Trevor said...

We're in a race to the bottom in North America. Not that you've said it - you're one of the few people I know who understands the value of unions. But I've heard lots of people say "Those posties have all sorts of benefits I don't have, so they should have them taken away" - instead of saying, "Those posties have all sorts of benefits I don't have, I should have them too".
But that's capitalism for you. The rich will get richer. The rest of us will fight each other for scraps.
For your sake, Pierre, I hope the dispute is settled soon, so that you can resume shipping orders to customers.
- Trevor

ShipMyAuto said...

This is such an amazing site! I really enjoyed reading the content. Thanks!

Car Ship Germany