It once caused consternation across our land. But today it’s greeted with little more than a barely noticeable shrug.
It’s the threat of a postal strike; something that was once a staple of Canadian life, as the posties’ union would regularly hold us hostage in order to drag out yet more concessions from the beleaguered Crown Corporation.
We’re in the throes of negotiations once again, with a potential postal strike looming. But these days that power of disruption is merely a shadow of its former self.
Heck, for those younger than 35 the very idea of writing or receiving letters, getting bills in the mail, or waiting until Monday rolls around for service, appears as old-fashioned as using a rotary phone. (What’s one of those? I hear younger readers ask.)
No, whether the posties walked out last month or decide to settle this week is close to meaningless for most of us, though why they would drive what might turn out to be the final stake through the viability of their own jobs is a head-scratcher.
Maybe it’s simply a habit, one that’s emerged over the past half-century of regularly getting what they demanded in higher pay and better conditions by threatening havoc upon the lives of ordinary Canadians.
If so, it is similar to many habits – eventually proving dangerous to those caught in a vice-like grip.
That’s because Canada Post is rapidly running out of money. In its latest annual report the corporation announced such a dire situation could arrive next springtime, unless it can borrow yet more money and somehow refinance its debt.
This is hardly a surprise. The postal service lost a whopping $748-million last year alone. Heck, that’s about $2-million a day. In fact, over the past half-dozen years, Canada Post has bled $3-billion in red ink. It’s doubtful yet another strike is going to improve that situation.
But the Canadian Union of Postal Workers is pushing ahead regardless, recently turning down a wage offer of 11.5 per cent over four years, along with protection for workers’ pensions. It seems the thorny issue of weekend delivery is the main sticking point.
Well, sorry posties, but these days all manner of delivery services roll up to our doors night and day, Monday through Sunday. It’s why the vast majority of Canadians are now such outlet customers and why the corporation needs such flexibility to prevent it sinking without a trace.
Meanwhile, that ever-decreasing number of folk still loyal to Canada Post might decide that yet another strike – looming just in time for Christmas delivery, of course – will be the final straw.
Already there is an exodus of customers, no doubt pouring yet more red ink onto the corporation’s bottom line.
“Retailers require certainty for their shipments at this critical time of year and are moving their parcels to other delivery companies," said a statement from the Crown Corporation last week.
"Customers have also cancelled direct marketing campaigns to avoid having items stuck in the postal network in the event of a strike."
Canadians are nice people, so there is a natural tendency to have sympathy with your local postie, caught up in the changing tide of commerce and having to compete in a business where competition wasn’t part of the game until recently.
But before we shed a tear let’s remember this: from 1965 onward, 19 different disputes between union and management wreaked havoc upon Canadians.
They didn’t give two figs for us then, so why concern ourselves now?
The postal service is done. The final paycheck’s in the mail. Amazon can deliver it.
Chris Nelson is a syndicated columnist.
