Mike Duquette, president of the Scarborough chapter of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW), Says: Our dispute is not with the public, our dispute is with our employer, – Canada Post is a Crown Corporation
If a company in Canada receives crown corporation status then that company shouldn’t be allowed to unionize
I’m making sure that I leave my trail so Canadians understand why the economic collapse is going to happen in Canada. A lot of employers are leaving Canada and I don’t think people understand that these employers can’t even be replaced because Canada Post is holding the Canadian economy hostage. Canada Post has completely wiped small Canadian businesses out of e-commerce, don’t even bother trying to be an international Canadian company that sells physical items and delivers them internationally. You won’t be competitive primarily because of Canada Post and CUPW.
Canada is currently a corporatist nation, Canada Post workers union is not wrong for fighting for their employers, they’re wrong because Canada Post is a crown corporation, who has monopolized important sections of the mail delivery in Canada. Because of this monopolization, they’ve artificially raised prices on mail delivery and justified it because of rural communities. Canada Post has inflated its prices so much and changed the Canadian economy to such a degree, that in case you haven’t noticed most small Canadian business haven’t been growing, in fact, they’re disappearing.
In America, you rarely hear about disruptions in their mail delivery services? You do hear about a lot of U.S retail stores closing down, but those businesses are closing down and being replaced by e-commerce businesses, many of who sell products made and manufactured in the USA. In the U.S it’s common to get free shipping and products, in Canada Free shipping is reserved typically for either Amazon Prime members or online Walmart shoppers that spend at least $50.
You don’t see much if any small e-commerce businesses offering free shipping? The reason you don’t see this is because Canada Post is very particular about weight and size and even the smallest parcel might cost a small business person $15 to ship using Canada Post, because Canada Post monopolized mail delivery and is protected from competition UPS, DHL, FedEx and even your local delivery companies AREN’T ALLOWED TO COMPETE with Canada Post, because Canada Post is a crown corporation.
Former Crown Corporation Bell Canada and current Crown Corporation Canada Post
If you’re having a hard time understanding my position on Canada Post, what you’ll want to look at is a former Crown Corporation Bell Canada which is owned by BCE Inc. used to be a Crown Corporation, but was stripped of its position and now has to compete. Now, yes I get it; telecommunications services in Canada are monopolized, however, there are at least talks to change that.
As an example when Verizon was thinking about coming to Canada, Bell, Rogers, and Telus all made the argument that Verizon would ignore the Rural area’s go straight for Canada’s largest cities which is probably true. However, what this does is it forces Bell to be competitive which is why you don’t see the nonsense that happens at Canada Post happening at Bell Canada. Bell Canada is a publically traded company, their numbers are being monitored, Canada Post is not a publicly traded company which is why they don’t hesitate to raise prices on Canadians for the exact same services.
Is Canada post a publicly traded company? NO!
Canada Post isn’t competitive, they don’t have to be competitive when the last time you’ve heard a peep out of any competitor of Canada Post? Never, because they’re all complacent, they’re buying their time, the writing is on the wall, Canada Post is going bankrupt, but it’s going to happen primarily because of their pyramid scheme which is their defined benefit pension plan. You can read about Canada Posts defined benefit Pension Plan by clicking the link below:
The Canada Post Defined benefit pension plan – The Defined Benefit (DB) component of the Canada Post pension plan provides its members with a pension benefit based on a pre-determined formula.
The pension benefit does not depend on how much members contribute or how well pension fund investments perform.
To understand Canada Posts problems going forward is to understand the flaw in socialism. Socialist believe that future profits are guaranteed which is why they use the government to force private companies and citizens to pay more money to the government own companies so the government can redistribute the money it gets from the public via taxes and fees to entities the government deems as most deserving.
Basically, a Defined Benefit where the monies retirees receive do not depend on how much members contribute or how well pension fund investments perform is the same scheme. Money doesn’t appear by magic? Money for pensions is created by investing for a profitable return or by how much an individual puts into the pension plan itself. This should be common sense to Canada Post employees, but you see their Union is supposing the Revenue of $8.2 billion Canada Post received in 2017 will there when they’re employees are ready to retire. (Canada Post – Wikipedia)
To give you a better perspective and give you the numbers, Canada Post’s revenue in 2017 was $8,200,000,000 billion and currently, to the best of my knowledge Canada Post has 64,000 employees ($8,200,000,000/64,000 = $128,125) To give you a better understanding of how horrible these numbers are Donald Trump individually is worth $4 Billion dollars!
Revenue
What is ‘Revenue’
Revenue is the amount of money that a company actually receives during a specific period, including discounts and deductions for returned merchandise. It is the top line or gross income figure from which costs are subtracted to determine net income.Revenue is calculated by multiplying the price at which goods or services are sold by the number of units or amount sold.
Revenue is also known as sales on the income statement.
So based on the numbers I provided above Canada Post currently has $128,125 left if you divide the money evenly amongst their 64,000 employees. Also as I illustrated, this number only holds up if the customer base remains the same or grows.
Canada Post is a Crown Corporation
I point all of this information out because Mike Duquette, president of the Scarborough chapter of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW), stated the following: “Our dispute is not with the public, our dispute is with our employer” Canada Post is a crown corporation, what is a crown corporation you ask?
Canadian Crown corporations are state-owned enterprises owned by the Sovereign of Canada They are established by an Act of Parliament or Act of a provincial legislature and report to that body via a minister of the Crown in the relevant cabinet, though they are “shielded from constant government intervention and legislative oversight” and thus “generally enjoy greater freedom from direct political control than government departments.” Crown corporations of Canada – wikipedia
So my readers get the full gist of what I’m saying below is what a state-owned enterprise is
A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a business enterprise where the state has significant control through full, majority, or significant minority ownership. Defining characteristics of SOEs are their distinct legal form and operation in commercial affairs and activities. While they may also have public policy objectives (e.g., a state railway company may aim to make transportation more accessible), SOEs should be differentiated from government agencies or state entities established to pursue purely nonfinancial objectives.State-owned enterprise – wikipedia
This is why I say public sector unions should be abolished in Canada, if Canada Post wants a union they shouldn’t be a Crown Corporation, similar to Bell Canada they should be a publically traded company that has to compete, sure based on their importance to rural communities they should be able to argue their points to the courts, but so much of what Canada Post does now, can be done far more efficiently by the private sector. CUPW is demanding job security the rest of Canadians don’t have, CUPW is making Canada Post a profit-driven company at the expense of Canadian taxpayers.
I don’t think Canadians even realize how inflated mail courier prices are in Canada. One of the companies Canada Post works with ePacket which allows Chinese companies to sell into the Canadian marketplace pay around 1/10 what Canadians pay to mail the exact same item to Canadians in Canada and whether these Canadians are in rural areas or large cities this doesn’t matter. I should also mention that a lot of Chinese companies prefer not dealing with ePacket because they find ePacket expensive.
In order for a foreign parcel to even get to Canada, it has to flown in, shipped in by boat yet these foreigners enjoy more benefits to the Canadian market than do Canadian businesses and individuals themselves. Sure Canada Post has a right to do this as a completely private company, but Canada Post is State owned. Which means it should be looking out for our best interests, instead what CUPW has done is they’re looking out for their own best interest which at least for now apparently includes their members. Like I pointed out before they’re on very shaking ground and if I had my heart set on that Golden Egg Canada Post retirement I’d be worried that it’s at risk, because it is and that risk will remain even if CUPW’s demands are met.
Canada Post should have its crown corporation status stripped, that’s my position!
Interesting times ahead
