Those posties were quite the wild bunch, back then. Ah, youth. The benefits of the existence of militant unionism, even to those who aren't organized (or easily organizable in our economy) or are stuck with a more routine, bureaucratic one, cannot be pointed out enough. Now it has come to a point where it is normal for people to be jealous of decent pay, pensions or health and safety rules, rather than seeing them as something to emulate.
epaulo, did you know André Frappier of Mtl?
Yes, Germany does have postal banking. It's something that Canada Post could do but probably won't.
Why will the price of a stamp be going up to 86 cents in a pack or $1.00 for a single stamp? It's probably because the profit margin is currently very small on individual letters. The big money maker is the parcel delivery.
When we think about the 1/3 of people who still get home delivery, let's think about where they live. They are likely to live in older urban areas that are more likely to vote Liberal or NDP. By cutting home deliveries, there will be very little risk for the Conservatives in losing votes and seats.
As for Liberals and their outrage over cancelling home deliveries, I think this is just faux outrage. If Justin Trudeau were ever to become prime minister, I seriously doubt he would restore home deliveries.
Back on the labour front, I don't think Canada Post will get into postal banking only because the labour costs would likely be higher than those at current banks in Canada.
ygbtk, you should have said something! I would have cared! Poor thing.
You'll pardon me for being a little skeptical.
But surely you realize that this twin maneuver of drastically cutting services and raising prices is strategically intended to cripple CUPW and a crown corporation in order to make it ripe for union busting and privatization, yes? And not meant to just bring those poor saps who didn't buy a house in a suburb built after 1980 into line?
or to restore profitability. Whatever. See:
http://www.canadapost.ca/cpo/mc/assets/pdf/aboutus/annualreport/2012_AR_complete_en.pdf
Declining lettermail volumes are for real.
.
In my socialist dreamworld, I'd be happy to see microlocal community centres where people could post and pick up mail and access other frontline services, as well as socialise around a hot beverage and perhaps have community activites. But of course door-to-door services would be available to people who need them.
..nice.
... sounds like a plan, lagatta!
epaulo, did you know André Frappier of Mtl?
..our paths never crossed. i knew of him and remember that his name came up in vancouver fairly often depending what was being talked about ie: convention.
Harper undermines postal service to justify eventual privatization
In Harper’s warped world, postal workers are too essential to strike, not essential enough to deliver the mail
The elimination of door-to-door mail delivery is the latest example of the Harper government’s attempt to undermine essential services Canadians rely on, Gil McGowan, president of the Alberta Federation of Labour said.
McGowan’s comments came in response to the news that Canada Post will eliminate all of door-to-door regular mail service in the country over the next five years.
“All Canadians will feel the pain from these proposed changes, not just the 8,000 workers who will lose their jobs across Canada or the 1,000 here in Alberta. Seniors or people living with disabilities will be particularly hard hit,” McGowan said.
quote:
Members of the AFL’s Executive Council, who represent most unions in Alberta, have committed to supporting the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) in their fight to protect services for Canadians and jobs for their members.
http://www.afl.org/index.php/Press-Release/harper-undermines-postal-serv...
SFL CONCERNED THAT CANADA POST FINANCIAL WOES A PRODUCT OF IDEOLOGY
Working people across Saskatchewan were concerned to learn that Canada Post intends to eliminate all home mail delivery within five years. Given the level to which the Harper government has been willing to interfere in the company’s operations, the move seems to be a natural “next step” along an ideological path to full privatization.
“The Harper government has always held contradictory views on Canada Post,” said Saskatchewan Federation of Labour President, Larry Hubich. “On the one hand, the Prime Minister and his government believe that the men and women that work for the company must never go on strike, because they are essential. On the other hand, they are ideologically opposed to Canada Post, and have been presiding over its gradual elimination.
Many questions have been raised regarding what the announcement will mean for vulnerable Saskatchewan people, including seniors and people with disabilities, who are extremely reliant on home delivery. Questions have also been raised about logistical issues. It is unclear, for example, how urban centres can accommodate the significant number of “community mail boxes” that will become necessary once door-to-door deliveries cease. “We have experienced many technological changes in our province, many of the most significant of which have occurred in the past few decades. Though it certainly seems that Canada Post may need to make some changes to the way in which it operates, elimination of home delivery is unnecessary. The Harper government should be working with Canada Post to help ensure that the company is positioned for success in the future, not presiding over its gradual elimination....
http://www.sfl.sk.ca/news/releases/december-12-2013---sfl-concerned-that...
And who was that fiery redhead in Edmonton... Could he have been Greg McMaster? Sorry, old brain, and so many memories.
The change in the Netherlands has been disastrous. I've had two postal stations close on me in Amsterdam, meaning very long queues, and at the latter, no longer the great crisp efficient service one expects in Northern Europe. And it is not true that nobody was posting anything, given the long queues.
I have my doubts about the appropriateness of the postal banking option being floated by CCPA and others. It may be an additional income stream for the corporation and a source of additional traffic for local post offices. But it would not obviously help preserve home delivery, in my mind.
Historically the offering of financial services through post offices was seen as having two benefits: it provided ready physical access to services to communities with no financial institution. Secondly, given that PO banks were almost always savings banks (collecting customer savings but not giving loans) they were also a comparatively cheap way of getting funds into the gov't treasury. Nowadays, those postal banks that still operate (mainly in Europe) have agreements with formal financial institutions so that they can offer debit card and limited credit services, too.
My recollection of life in the UK some years back was that a minority of customers in a Post Office at any one time were there for traditional postal services. People were renewing drivers licenses, processing pensions, doing banking, etc. In other words, the PO was the local public access point for a range of gov't services. Not sure where any of this stands now that the Royal Mail stands to be privatised... but it was certainly a different business model than that of Post Canada.
And who was that fiery redhead in Edmonton... Could he have been Greg McMaster? Sorry, old brain, and so many memories.
..it sounds like someone i should remember. alas i don't. old brain as well. i would like to remember a fiery redhead.
Canada Post pension requirements eased by Ottawa
Canada Post will have $1 billion more to play with next year thanks to pension requirement changes by the federal government.
Even as Canada Post begins to phase out door-to-door mail delivery and hike the price of stamps, the Crown corporation will have an extra billion dollars on hand next year thanks to federal relief on its pension requirements.
The Department of Finance announced Wednesday that it intends to ease solvency requirements for the Canada Post pension plan for four years, meaning the corporation can put off approximately $1 billion in special payments to the fund in 2014 alone.
Coupled with an aggressive restructuring strategy estimated to save between $700 million and $900 million when fully implemented, Canada Post will have a lot more cash to play with as it attempts to modernize the postal service for an increasingly digital age.
“We now have time to work to transform the company and transform the pension plan,” Canada Post spokesman Jon Hamilton said Wednesday....
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2013/12/11/canada_post_to_announce_ra...
..vicious attack on working people. first they create a problem than they fix it.
Canada Post gears up for pension fight
Canada Post will push for deeper concessions from its 60,000-plus workers as it scrambles to fix a badly underfunded pension plan, chief executive Deepak Chopra says.
Making the $17-billion pension plan sustainable is now among his top priorities, Mr. Chopra said in his first interview since announcing controversial moves last week to stem mounting losses at the postal service. That includes ending home delivery and shifting millions of Canadians to community mailboxes.
“Going forward, we see pensions as a major area of focus because the size of the deficits and the volatility is disproportionate to the size of the business,” Mr. Chopra told the Globe and Mail Monday.
“We need to find sensible solutions that are consistent with the corporation’s ability to sustain the plan.”...
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/canada-post-to-push-fo...
“We wish you a Merry Christmas with no service cuts!:” postal workers and supporters to Fredericton MP
Fredericton postal workers and members of the Fredericton District Labour Council (FDLC) delivered a message against cuts to the postal service to Fredericton MP Keith Ashfield at his Christmas meet and greet on Dec. 14th in Fredericton.
quote:
“This is the first of what is sure to be many events bringing postal workers, the labour movement and members of the Canadian public an opportunity to put an end to the proposed plan put forward by Canada Post,” said Bailey.
Deepak Chopra, the CEO Canada Post, a Crown corporation that locked out its workers almost three years ago, is coming under fire for a possible conflict of interest.
Chopra sits on the board of the Conference Board of Canada, a think-tank that has advocated the cuts while suggesting the executive of Canada Post remain in tact. Canada Post had commissioned the Conference Board report and is using it as rationale for the proposed cuts.
Denis Lemelin, national CUPW President, noted the factual errors of the Conference Board report earlier this year: “The Conference Board’s projection of a $1 billion loss for 2020 is based on the inaccurate assumption that there would be a $250 million loss in 2012. But Canada Post actually turned a profit in 2012. Canada Post has stated that there would have been a $54 million loss in 2012 – not $250 million – if it weren’t for one-time savings from CUPW’s collective agreement. If the Board cannot predict the financial results of 2012, can anyone have any confidence in their predictions for 2020? The Conference Board predicted that letter volumes for the fourth quarter of 2012 would be 9.5% less than the same quarter of 2011. As it turns out, they greatly exaggerated the decline in 2012 fourth quarter volumes. The Conference Board’s report also greatly underestimated the potential for growth of parcel delivery. It estimated a 3% growth rate when Canada Post actually saw a 6% increase in parcel volumes in 2012”....
http://nbmediacoop.org/2013/12/16/we-wish-you-a-merry-christmas-with-no-...
..cupw not wasting any time.
Act now to Save Canada Post!
On December 11, 2013, Canada Post announced drastic cutbacks to our public postal service.
The Conservative government supports Canada Post's plan to eliminate all door-to-door mail delivery and dramatically increase stamp prices. This is just the latest attack on your public postal service.
Compare this to other post offices around the world, which are facing their challenges through innovative services, such as postal banking.
Help us Save Canada Post!
http://www.cupw.ca/index.cfm/ci_id/1165/la_id/1.htm
October 9, 2013 - 12:00
Postal Banking / Bulletin
2011-2015/207
Today the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) published a major report which examines the feasibility of adding financial and banking services at Canada Post Corporation. The report, entitled, Why Canada Needs Postal Banking, provides compelling evidence that Canada Post is well placed to fulfill the need for improved financial and banking services.
The CCPA study looks at the changing banking environment as well as our post office's own experience with banking. In addition, it reviews the status of postal banking around the world, highlighting five successful models in the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Switzerland and New Zealand. CUPW has done its own research concerning international postal banking but decided to ask for an independent perspective concerning the feasibility of initiating banking and financial services at Canada Post. As a result, we commissioned this study by the CCPA.
Having established that there is a need for improved financial services in our country and that there are viable models in other countries, the study concludes by suggesting five possible models for postal banking in Canada:
Create a non-chartered bank -- a Canada Post-owned subsidiary -- to deliver financial services.
Create a chartered bank wholly owned by Canada Post.
Create a bank to deliver some of the services and partner with banks and others to deliver the rest.
Create a national credit union or mutual to deliver the financial services in partnership with Canada Post.
Partner directly with one or more financial institution to deliver financial and banking services.
The report concludes by recommending that the federal government and Canada Post immediately establish a task force to determine how to deliver new financial services, and establish priorities for delivering new products. The report was written by John Anderson. As former director of Parliamentary Affairs for the NDP federal caucus and former director of government affairs and public policy at the Canadian Cooperative Association, Anderson has excellent credentials to research and analyze issues concerning financial and banking services.
You can find the entire report on the internet at:
http://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/reports/why-canada-needs-postal-banking
In solidarity,
Denis Lemelin
National President
President's Commentary: Privatization is not the answer at Canada Post, modernization is
We have encouraged innovation. We have encouraged modernization. We have encouraged Canada Post to find ways to attract more users. We have encouraged public engagement and consultation on the future of our postal service. Yet, we've seen none of that.
quote:
Taking a stand on our public services
And while, Canada Post may have already decided what path it wants to take, Canadians have not decided. To determine what the future holds for such a long-standing public service in Canada, we need to have an open discussion. We need to, as citizens, decide what our postal service could do, how we want it to serve our needs. We need to consider the possibilities, learn from other countries and have a thorough debate about our options.
A fullsome debate has not happened yet. And if Canada Post and the Harper government has their way, it won't.
Not unless we do it ourselves.
Back in 1993, when then Conservative leader Brian Mulroney was trying to privatize Canada Post, we fought back. We can do that again.
We can tell them what we want. Because if we don't, we'll never get it.
James Clancy
NUPGE National President
http://nupge.ca/content/11358/presidents-commentary-privatization-not-an...
Canadians tell Lisa Raitt no more postal cuts
Postal workers delivered over 12,200 postcards of protest to Lisa Raitt, Minister responsible for Canada Post, today at her constituency office in Milton, Ontario. The postcards were signed by Canadians opposing postal downsizing and closures prior to the corporation's recent announcement that it intends to cut delivery and raise rates.
'People are angry about the cuts and the fact that the government doesn't seem to care,' said Donald Lafleur, 4th National Vice-President of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers.
Some of the postcards are from Milton residents, while others are from communities throughout the country. They ask Olivia Chow, official opposition critic responsible for Canada Post, to tell Minister Raitt to stop closing and downsizing post offices and instead look at new ways to generate revenue such as postal banking. Chow recently sent this message in a letter to the Minister.
Other party critics have also denounced postal cuts and expressed concern about the government's upcoming review of its expectations for Canada Post, as spelled out in the Canadian Postal Service Charter.
'The corporation has closed about 40 urban post offices in the last two years and turned some of the remaining offices into little more than a hole in the wall,' said Lafleur. 'It has been brutal and it's going to get worse now that Canada Post has announced it intends to eliminate door-to-door delivery and hike postage rates.'...
http://www.cupw.ca/index.cfm/ci_id/15007/la_id/1.htm
eta: video
http://www.chch.com/protesters-deliver-message-canada-post-cuts/
Canada Post cuts a concern for local residents
quote:
At Yorkton’s regular City Council meeting, held Monday President of the local Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW), Gloria Spilak, was on hand to seek council’s support in a bid to urge Canada Post to reconsider a plan that will see changes to delivery methods and increased postal fees.
“On December 11, 2013, Canada Post announced to the Canadian public that it was going to instigate a Five Point Action Plan as the beginnings of a “new postal system,” said Spilak to council. “Canada Post did not hold meetings open to the public to discuss this new plan with their only shareholder, the people of Canada. The Canadian Postal Charter states that the Government of Canada is committed to ensuring transparency in how Canada Post provides quality postal services.”
The newly announced federal plan includes: eliminating door-to-door delivery service and replacing it with community mailboxes; raising the price of stamps from 63 cents to 85 cents (if purchased in bulk) and $1 each if purchased in smaller amounts; and, contracting our postal services to franchise dealerships.
“In our experience,” says Spilak, “we see that customer business is siphoned off to the nearby private dealers. In turn, Canada Post will cut the hours and staff at the corporate offices. These service cuts will have serious effects on communities across Canada and here in Yorkton.” It will also put the security and safety of community members at risk, she suggests.
“The proposed community mailboxes will bring many problems including theft, traffic problems, vandalism and accessibility problems for many of the most vulnerable in our community, our seniors and those with disabilities.”
The proposed cuts will also take away good paying jobs, says Spilak, “that contribute to the Yorkton economy and provide for stability in our community.”.
As such, the local union group requested council write a letter to Canada Post as well as the Minister responsible for Canada Post, to demand that they do not proceed with the action plan.
After some discussion, council opted to receive and file the request...
http://www.yorktonnews.com/article/20131218/YORKTONNEWS0101/312189997/ca...
Denis Lemelin’s Speaking Notes for the Standing Committee on Transport: December 18, 2013
Thank you for the opportunity to be here and present the views of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers
We represent all of the thousands of letter carriers who deliver mail every weekday to the doorstep of the millions of people whose service this government wants to cut.
And I want to begin my remarks by stating that we totally oppose the elimination of door to door delivery and that we plan to organize the population to fight this unnecessary cutback of an important service.
During the upcoming months we intend to work with the owners of Canada Post Corporation to convince you to overturn this decision.
We are going to work with the millions of citizens who receive door to door delivery
We are going to work with community organizations
We are going to work with our allies in the labour movement
We are going to with seniors and disable people and the organizations that represent them
We are going to work with small businesses and home based businesses.
We are going to work with everyone who cares about their postal service to convince you to overturn this very bad decision....
http://www.cupw.ca/index.cfm/ci_id/15028/la_id/1.htm
..my bold
A letter carrier's lament: We all lose if postal services are cut
quote:
All Canadians will lose as a result of the cuts to Canada Post, but it is seniors and the disabled who will be the big losers as they rely on this service to stay in touch. It should not be this way and it was not supposed to be this way. I know what this service means to people as I was a letter carrier for more than 35 years.
I have held union offices from Business Agent to National President in the Letter Carriers Union of Canada. As such I was involved in discussions with the government about Canada Post's move from a department of government to a Crown corporation. The mandate given the Corporation was to continue all present services, to expand these services, and to look into new services that would assist in its financial stability.
At the time, the unions saw a need to adapt post office services to changing times. We advocated that the post office get into new services like banking -- something that is still valid today. Back then, computers were just being introduced so we suggested the Corporation set up email stations with computers so people could send email from one community post office to another....
http://rabble.ca/columnists/2013/12/letter-carriers-lament-we-all-lose-i...
City Standing with CUPW
The city of St. John's is standing together with the postal workers union to fight back against fallacies it says are being spread by Canada Post. It comes a week after the company said it was ending home to home delivery and raising rates.
Mayor Dennis O'Keefe met with members of the union this morning. O'Keefe was quick to voice his opposition to the changes saying the move will deteriorate services and cost the city some $50-thousand annually. O'Keefe lays part of the blame with the federal government. He has written the minister responsible requesting the decisions be reversed. But O'Keefe says if Canada Post goes ahead with its plans, the city won't be co-operating.
He says when the company comes to city hall looking for help, or advice on where to set up the super mailboxes it won't be getting it. O'Keefe says discussions will be held with the city manager to determine what other steps can be taken....
http://www.vocm.com/newsarticle.asp?mn=2&id=41801&latest=1
St. John's mayor Dennis O'Keefe and CUPW representative Mike McDonald speak to reporters at St. John's city hall on Friday. (CBC)
Thank you epaulo for these updates and some good news. It seems so many people are brow beaten into thinking that every loss of service is deserved - as if we had it too good for too many years. This also, sadly, applies to the loss of decent paying jobs.
The divide and conquer tactic taken by Canada Post is effective even if more evidence that people can be easily convinced to race to the bottom. People outside high density urban areas should have fought harder to retain door-to-door services. It's kind of akin to saying that urban walk-in medical clinics are an advantage that those in rural and suburban areas don't have so let's axes them to save money on public health care. (Damn, I might be giving those pesky Harperites ideas.)
laine
..totally agree with your 1st para. on the second people fought and managed to stop more super boxes going in. a lot of people didn't get a chance as it was the developer who accepted it. for those who didn't fight back then, there's now, a second chance. and a much bigger fight this time round. :)
We Can Beat The Right
And Win The Fight At Canada Post
quote:
Since the economic crisis of 2008, Canada has seen an unprecedented assault on workers and public services to pay for the crisis and re-establish the profitability of the banks and the corporations. In the process, the rich are getting richer, public services are no longer being starved of funds but structurally undermined, while private and public sector jobs that provide any chance at a decent living are being squeezed out of existence for the vast majority. Those who are fortunate enough to be in a union are under the gun from federal and provincial government legislation, assaults on pensions and benefits, and devastating plant closures which impoverish entire towns, counties and regions.
But all is not lost. We can turn this around. We believe that there is a real possibility to build a movement spanning Canada and Quebec to stop these attacks, and even build the power to make positive transformations to our postal system. There are four key reasons why we don't think this isn't just wishful thinking....
Town hall meeting to focus on Canada Post service cuts
The union representing postal workers in Sudbury is holding a town hall meeting Jan. 22 as it fights Canada Post's recent decision to end door-to-door home delivery.
The meeting goes at 7 p.m. on Jan. 22 at Steelworkers Hall on Brady Street. Members of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers are inviting everyone to attend as they try to galvanize opposition to Canada Post's plans....
http://www.northernlife.ca/news/localNews/2014/01/10-postal-public-meeti...
Thousands of mailboxes broken into in Metro Van, union says
Thousands of Langley and Surrey residents have had their community mailboxes broken into in just the past few months, according to the Canadian Union of Postal Workers.
Stephen Gale, a spokesman for CUPW, said the problem of community mailbox theft has quickly become “critical” and will continue to get worse unless Canada Post takes immediate action.
“They should be throwing everything they have at this problem and solving it quickly,” he said. “People are concerned and their identities are at risk.”.
Newton-North Delta MP Jinny Sims was one of the organizers and says the NDP stands firmly behind the postal workers’ union....
http://bc.ctvnews.ca/thousands-of-mailboxes-broken-into-in-metro-van-uni...
.........
People in Surrey rally against end of door to door mail NDP stand behind postal workers’ union
The end of Canada Post’s door to door mail service isn’t necessary, that according to people at a rally in Surrey Tuesday night.
Postal workers, politicians and ordinary people had harsh criticism for the federal government’s plan.
Marilyn Nemeth has been slinging mail for Canada Post as she puts it, for 10 years. She admits she and her co-workers are worried about their own jobs but their concerns don’t end there.
“We have as many people who are concerned about the safety of community mail boxes, about having to go to the community mailboxes instead of having it arrive at their home.”
Seniors’ advocates say the move could be catastrophic as many seniors are unable to carry parcels from community boxes....
http://www.news1130.com/2014/01/21/people-in-surrey-rally-against-end-of...
Vancouver asks Canada Post not to stop home delivery
Vancouver isn’t a fan of Canada Post’s plan to stop door-to-door delivery.
Council voted unanimously Tuesday to ask the postal service to suspend the service cuts pending full consultation with communities across the country.
Meantime, city staff will research how the changes may affect residents, specifically seniors and people with disabilities, NPA Coun. George Affleck said.
“It all came as quite a shock to us to see the mailboxes being taken away and then the flippant comments from the CEO of Canada Post, saying it was good exercise for seniors to get out and walk to their post box,” Coun. Kerry Jang said.
Jang also questioned how the changes could affect Health Canada’s medical marijuana system, which relies on the postal service for delivery....
http://metronews.ca/news/vancouver/917120/vancouver-asks-canada-post-not...
City shows support for postal workers
Local postal workers say a Canada Post plan to eliminate home delivery is reactionary, and Medicine Hat city council agrees.
Following a presentation by local letter and parcel carriers on Monday, council voted to send a letter supporting more consultation to its national lobbying body.
The Federation of Canadian Municipalities will formally ask for talks with Canada Post (see story on Page A6), which plans to end urban door-to-door delivery by 2018, laying off up to 8,000 workers, and raise the price of stamps immediately.
quote:
On Monday, Carr argued that the company is rushing ahead, and several city councillors said they could relate.
“Their idea of public consultation is simply telling us what they’re going to do,” said Coun. Les Pearson, citing the closure of the First Street branch, despite City lobbying, as an example.
“We should invite (Canada Post CEO Deepak Chopra) to Medicine Hat and see that seniors are afraid to walk down the street in Chinook weather.”
The City will have to work with Canada Post in the planning stages of new super box locations, as well as deal with increased costs for its billing tax and other correspondence.
Coun. Bill Cocks called the Canada Post plan a “knee-jerk reaction.”
“It’s certainly more than an issue for just postal workers,” he said. “It affects many people in our community.”
http://medicinehatnews.com/news/local-news/2014/01/city-shows-support-fo...
Canada post cutbacks will impact all Canadians, says Labour Council
video
http://www.northernlife.ca/news/localNews/2014/01/22-canada-post-Sudbury...
There was an action in the House of Commons today, apparently. Several posties and their allies were chanting "Stop Harper" and "Save Canada Post" to open the new session of parliament. Apparently a half dozen or so were removed and detained. Surely more to follow?
Mulcair says the NDP will use its first opposition day motion to ask MPs to agree that door-to-door mail delivery is a valuable service provided by Canada Post. The motion, to be introduced by transport critic Olivia Chow on Tuesday, asks the House to "express its opposition to Canada becoming the only country in the G7 without such a service."
Well, I wrote my MP (Joe Oliver) about the NDP motion (see above).
Dear Mr. Oliver,Please support the opposition day (Tuesday January 28 2014) NDP motion to express opposition to Canada becoming the only country in the G7 without the service of urban home mail delivery via Canada Post.
Sincerely,
Mark
Rally For Postal Service Draws Thousands
(with video)
Thousands of postal workers and supporters rallied in Ottawa on Sunday to send a message to Canada Post and the Harper federal government about their plan to end door-to-door mail delivery and hike postage rates.
"The Conservatives are wrong to think that people are going to accept these cuts," Gayle Bossenberry of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers said in front of a cheering crowd at the Prime Minister's office. "Stephen Harper, axe this plan and consult with the public!"...
http://www.newswire.ca/en/story/1295107/rally-for-postal-service-draws-t...
Protesters deliver strong message on Canada Post cuts
quote:
The union estimated that 2,500 to 3,000 people, many carrying signs and wearing their Canada Post uniforms, marched from Dundonald Park on Somerset Street to Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s office facing Parliament Hill.
“We’re here to send a message to the prime, minister that it’s unacceptable. There needs to be more discussion, more dialogue with residents and communities like in the City of Ottawa,” said Sean McKenny, president of the Ottawa District Labour Council.
“We’ve heard that Canada Post has targeted Orléans and Kanata as a couple of the first spots where they’re going to implement these community mailboxes, but our city council isn’t even aware of it.”
Although Canada Post is expected to foot the bill for the installation of community mailboxes, residents aren’t sold
Worries of litter, vandalism and theft at the boxes, as well as concerns about the day-to-day independence for seniors and people with disabilities, were all issues raised by attendees.
“It’s not just the letter carriers’ job losses, it’s going cause significant strain on a lot of folks, for something that’s not necessary. It is possible to maintain door-to door delivery and still maintain a very viable Canada Post,” said McKenney.
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/business/Postal+workers+turn+thousands+prot...
Government voted against the NDP motion. link
Canada Post "convenience boxes", special from the Conservatives:
The Postal Bank as the People's Bank?
With its back to the proverbial wall, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers has its thinking cap on. And while it's not a new idea – first Canada Post president Michael Warren was making the same pitch decades ago – one of the main notions now being floated towards making Canada Post solvent is the creation of a postal bank....
http://halifax.mediacoop.ca/story/postal-bank-peoples-bank/21105
Protests against postal service cuts as Parliament opens
Workers’ Forum and Forum Ouvrier journalists spoke with participants throughout the postal workers’ demonstration in Ottawa on January 26. Here is what they had to say....
http://nbmediacoop.org/2014/01/29/protests-across-canada-as-parliament-o...
“Cynical and diabolical”: Issa attracts allies in quest to demolish Postal service
The Postal Service’s largest union has harsh words for Rep. Darrell Issa, and is raising alarm over a pilot partnership with Staples, which it warns is a stalking horse for privatization – a goal the union alleges draws support or indifference from key Democrats.
“I think Congress and the White House are pretty much working hand in hand,” American Postal Workers Union president Mark Dimondstein told Salon prior to Tuesday demonstrations outside Staples stores in San Francisco and San Jose, the first of what he said would be an escalating wave of protests. “There hasn’t been a fight to defend the public good, and there hasn’t been a real fight around good jobs.”....
http://www.salon.com/2014/01/31/cynical_and_diabolical_issa_attracts_all...
Unions want Canada Post ousted as pension administrator
Canada Post’s unions want the Crown corporation replaced as administrator of its badly underfunded pension plan, citing potential conflicts of interest and a refusal to fix the plan’s problems.
In a letter to the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions, the unions complain that Canada Post failed to meet its obligations to workers when it stopped making mandatory payments into the plan without warning.
“Canada Post cannot simply act in its own narrow corporate interest,” the Canadian Union of Postal Workers and the Public Service Alliance of Canada pointed out in the letter to OSFI Superintendent Julie Dickson, which was obtained by The Globe and Mail....
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/unions-want-canada-pos...
Post Office Banking Could Be the Start of Something Big
It seems like an idea whose time has come. With one in four American households partially or entirely excluded from the current banking system, and with the U.S. Post Office in search of additional revenue, why not use the postal system to offer banking services to lower-income households?
quote:
What better way to start a much-needed transformation of our financial sector than by providing services to those communities the financial industry refers to as the “unbanked”? Right now those communities are routinely victimized by predatory payday lenders. As we first reported in 2010,
“Studies have shown that payday lenders disproportionately exploit minority neighborhoods with loans that are issued at an average annual interest rate of 455%. The average number of loan each borrower takes out is nine per year, according to one study, as these high rates lead to a cycle of indebtedness.”
Sen. Elizabeth Warren has endorsed the postal-banking concept, which David Dayen describes in more detail here. As Sen. Warren wrote recently, “if the Postal Service offered basic banking services — nothing fancy, just basic bill paying, check cashing and small-dollar loans — then it could provide affordable financial services for underserved families, and, at the same time, shore up its own financial footing.”....
Corner Brook and area mail carriers to go door-to-door with petition to save their jobs
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The postal carriers are also expected to be joined Sunday by members of the area’s Senior Wellness Committee. Seniors have been one of the more vocal groups to speak out against the elimination of the door-to-door delivery.
Caravan said members of Local 39 will also be conducting a door-to-door canvassing with the petition in the near future. He said the logistics have to be worked out, which he said is cumbersome since the carriers must do this when they are not working their routes.
He also expects the petition will be passed along to the different union locals and distributed to their members.
There will not be an online petition, because Canada Post will not accept those signatures, according to Caravan....
http://www.thewesternstar.com/News/Local/2014-02-07/article-3606397/Corn...
Nelson Star
Local postal workers organize town hall meeting
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The town hall meeting is Tuesday, February 18 at Hume elementary school at 7 p.m. There will be an expert panel — including Southern Interior MP Alex Atamanenko and CUPW Pacific Region Office spokesperson Cindy Lee and others yet to be confirmed — who will answer questions from the audience. Representatives from Canada Post declined their invitations to attend.
But Muscoby-Yanke said attendees can drop off letters and sign a petition that Atamanenko will deliver to the federal minister in charge of the postal service.
“We’ve won lots of battles, but we have to stick together,” she said, citing British Columbia’s successful repeal of HST legislation in 2011.
“Personally, I don’t want to see my mother having to struggle to get her mail when she could have it brought to her box at her home.”...
Tht picture says more about the people that use those boxes than it does about the system. Our neighbourhood is served by community boxes and I can honestly say I've never seen a flyer on the ground let alone a mess like this.
Tht picture says more about the people that use those boxes than it does about the system. Our neighbourhood is served by community boxes and I can honestly say I've never seen a flyer on the ground let alone a mess like this.
..you have a partial point abnormal. junk mail is a money maker for the po which is why so much of it is delivered..unrequested. the po needs to take primary responsibility for what happens to it. i don’t even see a recycle bin there. our skytrain stations allow for free newspapers to be handed out. personally i don’t like it for a number of reasons but at least they put out recycle bins and clean up should they be left lying around.
..last year the city of vancouver removed most of the garbage cans at bus stops as part of it’s cut backs. now at my stop some folks toss stuff on the ground while other pick it up. we attempted to put our own garbage can there several times but the city keeps removing it. point being we know what we wanted and what worked when the garbage cans were first implemented by the city. and we were willing to pay for it. same goes for the post office.
@epaulo, there isn't a recycle or trash bin near our box either - people just carry junk mail home and dump it in their own receptacles.
If you don't want to do that those community boxes do include an outgoing mail slot - have to admit I've been tempted on occassion to simply drop the flyers into that but the only person that impacts is the postie that has to collect outgoing mail and it's not their fault that we get inundated with junk.
abnormal
..i understand your position re the mess the pic highlighted. the solution proposed by the postal workers is to remove the superboxes altogether and reinstate door to door delivery. that not only deals with the trash but also the security, accessibility and other issues related to those boxes. i fully support that proposal which includes the expansion of services to offset the cost.
@epaulo,
So we're back to what is really the original question - how do we pay for it?
Reality is that, in my student days (which are far longer ago than I really care to admit), I had alternate day delivery. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays I got "real" mail. On the other days I got junk mail. And I wasn't unique. My girlfriend lived across town with her parents in an area that would hardly qualify as "poor" and she said the same thing.
