Canada Post Strike

Canada Post is on strike. It's been on 'full' strike for a few days now, after having 'rotating' strikes for a couple weeks before. Did you even know that?! Because I sure as hell didn't (well, I DID know about the rotating thing as of late last week - but had no idea we were in a 'looming full strike' position). I just found out TODAY that this was the case. Does that get you all worried and riled up at all? Because honestly, I don't think it bothers me too much at all. I don't watch much in terms of TV, which in turn means that I rarely see the news; and I rarely listen to the radio when they're talking (I'm a total station flipper - looking for the tunes - or moreover, I just plug in my iPhone and listen to the "commercial and talk free" tunes on it), so I'm not 'up to date' on everything news-worthy. All the 'news' I need to know, I get from FB - seriously - people's updates totally let me know all the important stuff - without having to listen to all the other bullshit they use to fill in their 'time slot'. Apparently the Canada Post situation wasn't newsworthy or important to too many, because not ONE single "friend" has posted ANYTHING about it - NOTHING AT ALL.

I knew that a few months ago there was talk about a strike (my hydro bill had a convenient little notice on it indicating that a postal strike was NOT a valid excuse to not pay your bills. DAMN!!), but then that date passed, and I still had mail showing up in my mailbox, so I assumed they had resolved it and moved on. Imagine my surprise late last week when I went to mail something at the post office and the gal at the desk warned that there were 'rotating' strikes across the country which meant that it might take a bit longer to get my mail to it's destination. I took my chances, and I THINK my mail got there, so all was well - and even if it HASN'T gotten there - no big deal - it was just 'fun' mail - nothing pressing or anything.

SO . . . I asked the lady what the deal was - what the issue was. While she VERY emphatically explained about how TERRIBLE their jobs and their pay was (yeah - because every government job is SO bad with shitty holidays, hours, pay and benefits - shit - ANYONE would give their left arm to have those jobs with less than what they offer NOW), it was as EXACTLY what I figured; greedy unions and never-happy-with-what-they-have-government-employees with their feeling of entitlement wanting more. You know how it is; they can bicker among each other while spending MILLIONS of dollars to get to a common ground. Millions of TAXPAYER dollars that are probably being used to pay the way for a bunch of high-falutin' folk to sit in some posh resort or convention centre having food and drinks delivered to them the entire time. Yeah - that makes COMPLETE sense, doesn't it?! Money that could be used in PRACTICAL ways - you know - to support the TAXPAYERS is being pissed away to 'entertain' these 'executives', union representatives and Canada Post Grand Pooba's.

Anyway, as usual, no one is happy, so like children they threaten to strike, kind of along the infamous kid threat "well, if you don't see it MY way, then you're NOT invited to my birthday party". Whatever - we hear about this stuff all the time, and normally an agreement is reached in the final hours and all is well. OR they strike for a few days; the public revolts and they work 'harder' to reach an agreement. For many professions, a strike is brutal thing that can cause all sorts of HUGE issues, like teachers; or truck drivers, etc; but honestly, when you think about it, does a stoppage in service by Canada Post REALLY affect the general public a whole lot?! I don't really think so.

I get that it's a big deal for businesses - they rely on Canada Post for cheques to come in and for them to mail out invoices, propoganda and even some materials/goods, but . . . there ARE other options out there. While it may be a bit of a pain in the ass for businesses to make alternate arrangements (courier, hand delivery, email, online banking, email banking), it IS do-able, and business can continue pretty much the status quo.

But the general public? I'm not sure that the majority of 'regular-every-day' taxpayers really care about a strike with Canada Post. Let's think about this, what do we normally get in our mailboxes? Bills and junk. The bills are easy enough - we can just pick up the phone and call or go online to get a balance (they're all due at the same time every month, so it's no shock about when they're due). MOST people pay at the bank, telephone or online banking, so that's no big deal either. Most cheques (government issued) and payrolls are done via direct deposit, and those that aren't, well, they CAN be changed to that format very quickly. The junk?! Well, I think it's safe to say that we can all certainly live without all that. The art of mailing a letter is a thing of the past (as sad as that is). In today's technologically advanced world, 'snail mail' is almost just a topic in the history books. Most people have at least one home computer (often more than one), or at the very least access to one at various places (schools; libraries; internet cafe's); and many people have smartphones (that are just like a computer) or a 'dumb' phone that allows them to freely communicate globally with folk. We've got email, text messages, general phone usage, message boards, facebook . . . no one really "NEEDS" Canada Post for that kind of correspondance.

Today, I haven't left my house, but I've heard ALL about the riots in Vancouver surrounding the Stanley Cup playoffs; but in the past week, I've heard NOTHING about Canada Post. I DID personally do an internet search after noticing that my mailbox was empty for the third day in a row - something that is pretty uncommon, and that of course is when I figured this all out.

So . . . I beg to ask. Postal Strike; bad thing?! For me personally? Not at all (at least right now - near any holiday and I'd be whistling a different a tune because I'm a card maker and sender and I'd be pretty ugly if I couldn't send out my cards). I don't have to worry about checking my mailbox to retrieve the bank statements that I already know the balance of; or to get the bills that I can easily get the balance of in other ways. It means less of a paper trail, and more importantly?! None of those pain-in-the-ass flyers, ads, 'offers of credit' and shitty junk mailings that I just deposit in my recycling bin before I even walk into the house. Yeah, that's certainly 'hurting' and inconveniencing me a whole lot right now - NOT!

SO . . . THANK YOU CANADA POST!!! You've eliminated a lot of paper and shit coming into our homes (and think of the trees you're saving!!), and have probably forced the country to reassess how we deal with bills and payments, and how people get their 'ads' out. Honestly, this is probably going to be a pivotal moment for Canadians - a time when we realize that maybe we don't need Canada Post as much as THEY think we do, and perhaps force people to make a change in how they handle their bills and correspondance on a permanent basis.

Congratulations CUPW! You may have negotiated a WHOLE lot of your members right out of a job. I feel really bad for those employees who are in this position . . . while their bosses and union reps are living the high life still, sitting in their cushy chairs, eating their fancy foods while they negotiate - and more importantly still getting PAID; these little people, pioins, labourers are standing on the lines picketing and not being paid, and probably realizing REALLY quick that their 'business' isn't maybe as crucial as they once thought. It's sad really. Really, really sad.