Sides ‘far apart’ in Canada Post talks: CUPW – Should Justin Trudeau Intervene? – November 13, 2018,
Working in the public sector should be considered an honor, I love our Police, I love our military, I love our firefighters, I love our correctional officers but I don’t like the way Canada Post is structured. It’s become profit driven. USPS also know as the United States Postal Service is in debt, and it constantly needs bailouts, which in my opinion is how is how things should be when you work in the public sector.
Canada Post, on the other hand, is “profitable” if Canada Post wasn’t Crown Corporation however and wasn’t able to monopolize mail services in Canada we all know they’d have to restructure how they run their business. So if you’re wondering why USPS is not profitable while Canada Post is, one simply needs to look at the prices Canadians have to pay to have mail delivered within Canada.
The Canadian consumer is being price gouged, whereas USPS their consumers aren’t being priced gouged to the same degree, furthermore Americans have more options, like UPS and FedEx which by the exist in Canada but aren’t allowed to threaten the financial stability of Canada Post. So in Canada, most private mail couriers simply opt not to be competitive domestically and instead focus on international shipping and businesses.
Because snail mail is disappearing Canada Post has been addressing the needs of their business customers, while at the same time focusing on what the reason they exist in the first place which delivers mail to areas most private couriers would probably ignore or opt to charge higher fees to deliver too. It’s this balancing act along with the disaster that is Canada Posts defined benefit pension plan that has Canada Post in a bind.
Canada Post is right: Defined-benefit pension plans are unaffordable for any employer – Financial Post
I’ve written about this issue so many times and this is what angers Canada CUPW and Canada Post employees the most. It angers them because they don’t understand how these pensions work. If you’re self-employed or own a corporation you’ll know immediately once you talk to a tax professional how disastrous defined benefit pension plans are, however if you’re an employee that believes in magic and believes that money simply falls from the sky or that the government should take care of you or that because we’re on fiat monetary system that the BoC should simply lower interest rates or print money to serve your needs then, well you’ll remain on strike for as long as it takes to have it your way.
Should Justin Trudeau intervene?
Justin Trudeau and the Liberals are Politicians, they’re not only Politicians they’re leftist politicians and elections are just around the corner and oh yes, but Christmas is also just around the corner too. So Justin Trudeau will most likely intervene which is why CUPW chose now to strike in the first place. Of course, CUPW seized the moment to strike right when Justin Trudeau legalized marijuana, yes I know all of this stuff it’s smart, it’s just I don’t think Canada Post employees understand that as opposed to the 1980’s and 1990’s you guys are kind of in the way of progress now.
You’re not really needed as much anymore, now that Canada Post has to address the needs of small, medium and large businesses, you guys are digging your own graves and CUPW knows it. But like any union, they have to prove their value to you. I wish Justin Trudeau wouldn’t intervene because the reality is if Canada Post wasn’t a crown corporation instead of striking right now chances are Canada Post would need a bailout.
Allow me to repeat that again if Canada Post wasn’t a crown corporation instead of striking, you’d need a bailout. Now, there’s this concept that some Canada Post workers aren’t being paid enough money? My question is paid enough money in comparison to whom? Other Canada Post workers? Have Canada Post workers looked at their pay scales in comparison to their private sector equivalents?
Canada Post Mail Carrier hourly salaries in Canada – Average salary $19.89 per hour – 10% Above national average
The reason Why I’m against Public Sector Unions and The Freedom People Have To Quit
Canada Post is a crown corporation in the United States their postal service doesn’t have as much power as the postal service in Canada does, so USPS has to be very creative. This is why U.S. Postal Service (USPS) pays its employees an average of $60,429 a year. Salaries at U.S. Postal Service (USPS) range from an average of $39,442 to $87,480 a year. Canada Post, on the other hand, has no incentive to be creative. Something else I should bring up about USPS is that their workforce is declining
Number of United States Postal Service employees from 2004 to 2017
On the flip side, Canada Posts workforce is increasing, which is bad news if you’re on strike and have a defined benefit Pension Plan. To get an understanding of what defined benefit pension plans is consider reading about the Illinois defined benefit plan crisis..
In the United States, USPS has to be competitive, their prices have to be competitive, where they can’t be competitive they have to be creative and even after all of this USPS still needs a taxpayer bailout every year. Canada Post has no competition and is barely profitable.
Canada Post Revenue: 8.2 billion USD (2017)
Canada Post Number of employees: 64,000 (2017)
Basic math $8,200,000,000/64,000 (employees and growing) = $128,125. Now let’s assume those numbers look good to you, if Canada Post continues to strike, how likely is it that this revenue will increase? Being that Canada Post is becoming increasingly dependent on the businesses in Canada, how soon will it be before Canadians businesses seek more alternatives or ask the government to end this silly monopoly. In Canada’s telecommunications sector even Bell Canada now has to prove their worth to the Canadian people.
Now I get it, Canada needs, Canada Post, but the real question that people are starting to ask is how big does Canada Post need to be? Because their demands have gone from reasonable to frivolous, As the pay scales for USPS workers rose the workforce shrunk, also USPS accepts that there are certain things it doesn’t do well
USPS Employees -503,000/325,700,000(USA Population) = 0.00154
Canada Post Employees -64,000/37000000 (Canadian Population) = 0.00172
Percentage wise Canada Post is already larger than USPS and because they’re “profitable” there’s no incentive to shrink the size of their workforce. The problem is in business this tends to equate to a looming disaster. But hey, CUPW wants to have its cake and eat it too.
Another great advantage that Canada Post has is that unlike in America, Canadians have been rather passive on this issue, which is why if I were a Canada post worker I’d say nothing or if I had a problem with how I was being paid or treated at Canada Post I’d simply quit. In America again I remind people that if USPS was able to price gouge US customers to the degree Canadians getting price gouged by Canada Post, USPS wouldn’t need a bailout every year, But the mere fact that they(USPS) need a bailout is why they’re incentivized to be creative with the services they deliver.
But, again public sector unions are profit-driven at the expense of the public Canada Post is supposed to serve. So Que Será, Será, I hope there is no intervention by Justin Trudeau, I’d rather CUPW and Canada Post find their own solution to this frivolous problem.
So, Smart guy what’s your solution to Canada Post?
What’s my solution to this Canada Post problem you ask? Shrink its size, public services aren’t supposed to be profitable or profit-driven. Public services are there for the public, they’re supposed to be in debt because the truth is the majority of what Canada Post does can be done for a lot less money. What do you think UPS or DHL or FedEx can’t sign deals with Chinese companies like ePacket? But why would ePacket waste time with UPS when it can sign a deal with Canada Post who delivers to every corner of Canada for less?
ePacket a Chinese owned company that gets benefits Canadians businesses can’t get at way lower prices is the exact reason why I think only certain sections of Canada Post should be protected. ePacket comes at the expense of the Canadian taxpayer, No Canadian manufacturer can compete with China if they’re not shipping in bulk.
In America, there are businesses who boycott Amazon, in Canada, Canadian business probably get the best shipping rates using Amazon Prime, if you’re not in business this stuff probably flies over your head. But this is the impact Canada Post has on the Canadian economy, and what people will say is that their prices are based on economies of scale, well explain ePacket who ships an item from China into Canada for less money than Canadian shipping the exact same item within the Canadian border? If Canada Post is a public service then this boost from China should actually lower the prices for Canadians delivering mail within Canada, right?
Again, my solution is to shrink the size of Canada Post, strip most of it of its Crown Corporation status. Restructure how mail is delivered. Similar to the banks, I believe only the elderly and the physically challenged should have their snail mail delivered to their house free of charge. In my system, Canada Post would have to be competitive, in all areas of mail delivery where the Private Sector is willing to operate.
I’m a believer in Bailouts over Profitability for protected or public service entities, I bring up ePacket to remove the economies of scale myth about Canada Post. Another Crown Corporation CMHC brags on their website about how their profitability is used to give money to the Federal Government, meanwhile, on a municipal level there are a lot of homeless people living in Ontario, plus rental prices all over Canada continue to rise.
There are a lot of businesses disappearing or not being created because globally a lot of Canadian businesses can’t compete because of Canada Post. Via ePacket Chinese retailers and manufacturers have an unfair advantage over Canadian retailers and manufacturers in their own country, yet Canada Post a Crown Corporation is profitable? Profitable at the expense of whom?
If the people working at Canada Post have a problem with how Canada Post is treating them QUIT! Otherwise, stop behaving as if you’re a victim. Canada is a free country, if you believe your labor is worth more than Canada post is paying you, find a better job somewhere else. If you can’t find a better job somewhere else, you might ask yourself if the reason for this revolves around public sector monopolies who are destroying the private sectors in Canada!
Interesting times ahead