Thoughts on BC Politics and More

On Friday, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) imposed an overtime ban at Canada Post, the first of what could prove to be a series of escalating job actions if new collective agreements are not soon reached. CUPW issued Canada Post a 72-hour strike notice on May 20, after which the employer tabled final offers that the union said “fall short.” Despite the shortcomings, the union requested a two-week “truce” to consider the proposals more fully, which Canada Post flatly rejected. As a strike deadline approached on May 22, it looked as though a full nation-wide work stoppage would resume. However, after having its previous strike suspended by the federal government, the union has instead opted for a more measured approach, for now. The current situation was entirely predictable. When the government interfered with CUPW’s strike in December, it effectively undermined the union’s strategic power without helping to resolve the underlying issues driving the strike — most notably, Ca...

It’s been a year since I wrote Preparing for Canada Post's Imminent Collapse. Granted, by at least some definitions of the word “collapse”, my prophecy has yet to materialize. Although when you add the coming strike to the 32 day labour disruption from late last year, junk mail-free days may well end up outnumbering junk mail deliveries for the foreseeable future. The truth is that I don’t enjoy thinking about Canada Post and its troubles. I rarely use the service myself and reading through their annual reports and external analyses can be downright depressing. The Crown corporation, in its current form, is unable to escape a combination of a letter delivery market destroyed by email and other digital technologies, a parcel delivery space where they just can’t compete, and labour costs unconnected to business value ... CLICK HERE for the full story

Last December, my father-in-law sent Christmas cards to my sons, who live with me in Virginia. They received them at the end of January, after more than a month of waiting anxiously. My family members weren’t the only ones who experienced this delay: millions of Canadians nationwide watched their holiday mail languish in a postal limbo as Canada Post’s 32-day strike soured the season’s cheer. I’ve covered the mail service’s mounting troubles since 2011, so I wasn’t entirely shocked when the federal government offered Canada Post a staggering financial bailout—of more than $1 billion—back in January. The move signalled both the depth of our postal system’s woes and the urgent need for it to adapt to a fast-evolving parcel market. Now, with their collective agreement set to expire on May 22, postal workers are poised to strike again, upping the urgency of a permanent fix even more. As communication shifted to texts and emails, and shipping services like Amazon have grown in popularity, C...