Right in the centre - Canada Post and union walking on thin ice

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Right in the centre - Canada Post and union walking on thin ice

Details: Published on Thursday, June 23, 2016

By Ken Waddell

The Neepawa Banner/Neepawa Press

On the front page of this week's paper, you will see this notice: “A postal disruption could occur as soon as July 1, 2016. Canada Post Corporation and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers have not come to a labour agreement. This does not affect deliveries in Neepawa, as we do not use Canada Post in the Town of Neepawa. In case of a postal strike or lock-out, at all other locations, the Banner will be distributed by alternative means. We plan to have the paper distributed at numerous locations around the readership area. We will do everything we can to make sure the papers are distributed.

Thank for your support and patience.

Ken Waddell

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Publisher, Neepawa Banner, Neepawa Press, Rivers Banner, myWestman.ca

204-476-3401”

At the outset, let me say a postal strike may or may not happen. If Canada Post and the unions can work out their differences, we may still avoid a strike. If not, this newspaper will be making alternate arrangements for delivery. We haven’t used Canada Post for several years inside the Town of Neepawa and the distribution system works just fine. We will build on our experience gained and spread our distribution system over the respective coverage areas for the Neepawa Banner, the Neepawa Press and the Rivers Banner. In the case of a strike, watch for your paper at a convenient location near you. If you have suggestions as to locations we can leave the papers, please phone me at the above number.

Now about Canada Post. We have been almost 100 per cent pleased with the service we receive from our local Canada Post workers. They go above and beyond to be helpful. If we sometimes do a miscount and send too few papers, they have been known to call us and let us know. I congratulate the local postal workers on doing a good job.

That all said, if there is another strike/lockout as there was in 2011, our papers will find alternative distribution methods. If there is another strike/lockout, we may not be a Canada Post customer in the future and here’s why.

In 2011, we had to hurriedly set up an alternative delivery system. Our area stores, service stations and restaurants were more than gracious and let us leave free distribution papers at their locations for our mutual customers. We put vehicles and staff on the road and rain or shine, snow or not, our drivers headed out every Thursday and Friday to distribute the paper. It works well, different than Canada Post, but it works well. In fact, there are so few free distribution papers using Canada Post now that I don’t think that CP or CUPW care whether we stay customers or not.

A few people at CP do care. One staff person in their sales department called us and asked what arrangements we were going to be making in the event of a strike. At least that person is worried, as they know full well that the Banner group of papers is one of Canada Post’s largest customers in western Manitoba. We pay thousands of dollars each month to Canada Post and in the future, that money will go to our staff and to buy gas for vehicles.

Canada Post and the CUPW should be worried. A strike will only convince more and more customers to find other ways to get the mail delivered. Canada Post’s volume and profits have been dropping for years. They aren’t as convenient as other methods, such as email. They are more expensive and the annual automatic price increases are both annoying and too high. They insist on fighting to maintain or restore door-to-door delivery to parts of the country and we all pay for it.

As I write this Tuesday morning, there is some uncertainty as to whether there will be a strike or not. We may know more by the end of the Canada Day long weekend. It doesn’t really matter, the papers will be delivered and life will go on. Newspapers can adapt. It’s doubtful if CP and CUPW can. It’s hard to decide who is more short-sighted, the corporation or the union.