Postal Strike: Day 4: Montréal out on Monday, June 6

CUPW announced on their web site at 4:25pm, June 5, 2011 that Montréal is next in line for their rotating strikes. Workers are slated to walk off the job at 11:30pm for a period of 24 hours while workers in Hamilton go back to work after their 48 hour work stoppage. So far the web site does not indicate which centre is going to be next.

The press release from CUPW quotes Denis Lemelin, National President and Chief Negotiator, as saying, “Montreal is another place where Canada Post has already begun its $2 billion postal transformation. As we saw in Winnipeg, Montreal postal workers are being forced to work with new machines and methods without proper safety studies beforehand. Postal workers are staying out on strike to keep the pressure on negotiations. We will not accept the rollbacks that a profitable company is trying to force us to swallow.”

Canada Post’s response dated June 5 states that it is looking for CUPW to propose realistic solutions to problems such as declining mail volumes, increasing competition, and electronic substitutions of traditional mail. Their Media Advisory of June 1 pointed out two significant aspects of their position. First, due to electronic communications and e-commerce, the Corporation has seen their business drop by 17% since 2006. Secondly, the Corporation does not rely on taxpayers’ dollars; it is self-sufficient.

It is interesting to look at the reactions to the strike thus far. The Toronto Sun in an article entitled “Postal strike? Bring it on baby” by Ezra Levant points out this is Canada’s first postal strike since 1997 and Canada should welcome it. He goes on to discuss how a strike will only further push Canadians, both consumers and businesses, to move electronic billing and payment. Mail will not be necessary at all. Mr. Levant adds, “There isn’t a lot of public patience for well-paid, well-pensioned government unions who have a golden job but choose to strike.” Such opinions do not bode well for the union and the future of mail in Canada.

The small town newspaper, the Vernon Morning Star of Vernon, B.C., echoes the obvious in talking about how electronic business is changing the need for regular mail. A strike is merely going to encourage people to make even more use of direct deposit, electronic communications and courier services as a substitute, hastening the transformation of Canada Post into just another commercial courier service, moving farther away from their prime position of being Canada’s official carrier.

The Windsor Star interviewed some residents of Windsor, Ontario and got the same opinion. However, a representative of Canada Post did point out that the stumbling block in electronic communication is a lack of broadband service in rural Canada or in the far North and senior citizens who are not computer savvy.

To recap: Workers in Montréal are walking off the job Sunday evening at 11:30pm for a period of 24 hours. The action in Hamilton comes to an end about the same time and workers there go back to their jobs. So far, CUPW has made no announcement about which centre will be next for a service disruption.

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