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[Merged] Ask Me About Working For Canada Post

Member
Feb 20, 2019
228 posts
123 upvotes
So I'm out of personal days but am I allowed to take unpaid days due to illness or lack of childcare due to the teachers rotating strikes?

If so, any ramifications?
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Oct 16, 2014
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PavementPounder wrote: So I'm out of personal days but am I allowed to take unpaid days due to illness or lack of childcare due to the teachers rotating strikes?

If so, any ramifications?
Just like how nothing else is consistent in this company....it all depends on your own depot/ staffing.
Sometimes the truth hurts. The other times it hurts worse....
Newbie
Feb 12, 2020
8 posts
2 upvotes
Hi,

I'm just completing my LC training and reading all the messages on this site is depressing. Is there nothing good people can say about working at CPC or is it really that bad or is it that "happy" people never say anything and we just hear from the rest?
Member
Feb 20, 2019
228 posts
123 upvotes
postmancal wrote: Hi,

I'm just completing my LC training and reading all the messages on this site is depressing. Is there nothing good people can say about working at CPC or is it really that bad or is it that "happy" people never say anything and we just hear from the rest?
I'm a year and a half in and love it. Sure, some things I would change if I could, but overall this job is fun and beneficial to my health. Having the defined benefit pension is a nice touch too.

Having said that, there are really crappy days, but to me they are the minority and not the majority.
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Mar 8, 2002
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postmancal wrote: Hi,

I'm just completing my LC training and reading all the messages on this site is depressing. Is there nothing good people can say about working at CPC or is it really that bad or is it that "happy" people never say anything and we just hear from the rest?

It all depends on what you want out of it and what kind of person you are.

If you are happy with the financial part and your pay works for you, that's a start. A single person still living with folks will be ok to start but anyone paying rent/mortgage and has a family to support ( depending on where you are too) may struggle.

The work can be challenging, esp at the start, but you get better/faster as time goes on. They're treating new hires way better than they were even just a year ago. People were quitting at a ridiculous rate, we're talking 90% quit within a month. Definitely helps if you're fit and the weather extremes don't bother you.

Dealing with the whole corporation/union thing can be a challenge, esp if you've never worked in a unionized environment before. But I think that depends on each person. It's best to try and ignore all that garbage and just do your work, but at the same time learn to know your rights, as the corp will try to take advantage of newbies. Also, find out your entitlements, as there are a lot of good things about the place if you know what they are.

Lastly, you'll learn a lot from reading the posts in this thread and join the CUPW unofficial Facebook page. Lots of information and help in both places.
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Banned
May 30, 2019
190 posts
96 upvotes
postmancal wrote: Hi,

I'm just completing my LC training and reading all the messages on this site is depressing. Is there nothing good people can say about working at CPC or is it really that bad or is it that "happy" people never say anything and we just hear from the rest?
Negativity caused by union whiners who moan as if we have the hardest, most dangerous job on the planet are best ignored.
If your in good physical shape, a self starter and like the independence you have once your out of the depot you'll be fine!!

Myself, love the job and enjoy the respect 99.9% of customers give us.

Good luck Thumbs Up Sign
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Oct 16, 2014
3206 posts
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at the chiropractors
tedfromaccounting wrote: How the hell do i get my prescription glasses/eye exam bill reimbursed? Is it not possible to do online?
Yes, you can sign up for online reimbursement through great west life. (groupnet)
Last edited by timetotellthetruth on Feb 29th, 2020 1:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Sometimes the truth hurts. The other times it hurts worse....
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Mar 8, 2002
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tedfromaccounting wrote: How the hell do i get my prescription glasses/eye exam bill reimbursed? Is it not possible to do online?
The optician might have a way to apply for it online, mine does.

It's possible to do online also
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May 22, 2015
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Best job I've ever had. Initially I took a pay cut but I'm solidly middle class income now and some guys in my station pull down 90k.

If you can survive the bullshit of being bounced, benched and given insane workloads then the job gets significantly better after 2 years. At $20/hr it absolutely sucks. Starting in March will be rough because there won't be much work for you until June. However, you'll be covering walks for a week by December which is far less stressful than floating (doing daily coverages) through Christmas. Due to the way seniority is assigned you could be right on the call out bubble but not get a call all week. As soon as someone above you moved up you'll get a call every day, then a station assignment for a week, then a month, then forever.

For your first few months just keep your head above water, do what you can then bring the rest back. If a supervisor gives you a full walk you're not expected to finish it as a new hire. If you can, great, but it's okay if you don't. Ask for help, ask questions to your co-workers (and us) and just focus on the light at the end of the tunnel. Just keep in mind everyone started at the bottom, most still remember how tough it was (and they have made the onboarding process much, much easier on you guys to combat the high turnover rates just a few years ago).
Sr. Member
Jun 8, 2019
750 posts
398 upvotes
mikebc wrote: Best job I've ever had. Initially I took a pay cut but I'm solidly middle class income now and some guys in my station pull down 90k.

If you can survive the bullshit of being bounced, benched and given insane workloads then the job gets significantly better after 2 years. At $20/hr it absolutely sucks. Starting in March will be rough because there won't be much work for you until June. However, you'll be covering walks for a week by December which is far less stressful than floating (doing daily coverages) through Christmas. Due to the way seniority is assigned you could be right on the call out bubble but not get a call all week. As soon as someone above you moved up you'll get a call every day, then a station assignment for a week, then a month, then forever.

For your first few months just keep your head above water, do what you can then bring the rest back. If a supervisor gives you a full walk you're not expected to finish it as a new hire. If you can, great, but it's okay if you don't. Ask for help, ask questions to your co-workers (and us) and just focus on the light at the end of the tunnel. Just keep in mind everyone started at the bottom, most still remember how tough it was (and they have made the onboarding process much, much easier on you guys to combat the high turnover rates just a few years ago).
How long do you think the ample OT will last?

I’m on the 20.83 an hour band and if I do OT at last years rate, which is my plan, I should gross between 58 and 63k this year.

Going up the pay bands I could hit 70k without really even extending myself.

However; won’t there be a major goal of Canada post to kill all this OT.
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May 22, 2015
3307 posts
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Honestly, no I don't think it will dry up. As they keep making our jobs more "efficient" it continues to pack our days closer to the 480 that the want. As soon as anything above regular volume comes down the pipe there's no way stations can cope because they're staffed on bar charts, not staffer intuition. A staffer can't bring in extra terms because they think Monday will be heavy, the union will shit a brick sideways.

If anything, more opportunities will arise because the senior guys taking overtime only take it because they have a 5 hour walk. As they push routes closer to 8 there is no way those guys are working in the dark, working past their 8, etc. They're also getting older, they're moving inside, they just don't want to do OT anymore as days get longer. So it works out well for us "younger" employees who don't care about working 10-12 hours because we can't afford houses or kids anyway, so why not work?

As far as CP trying to eliminate OT, I don't think management would push for it either. They absolutely want to limit own route 15.08 but 17.04 is a free for all. Is it cheaper to have a term (sitting in station) overstaffed on standby just in case, or to have me instead? That term costs ~$300 to sit there, maybe humping XX all day (working on the assumption that an average employee costs the employer wage x 2 to factor for benefits, pension, vacation, allowances, etc.) That term can reliably do 2 sections, maybe 3 on a Friday, it's luck of the draw how effective any given term will be. Or they get me, who sits on standby for free, and only costs them ~$40/hr and can handle 5-7 sections. Employees who do OT are treated like gods in a chaotic station, supervisors would trade 5 average carriers for someone who runs OT everyday, if their station eliminates OT then they know that carrier will go elsewhere. I really don't think they want that.
Sr. Member
Jun 8, 2019
750 posts
398 upvotes
mikebc wrote: Honestly, no I don't think it will dry up. As they keep making our jobs more "efficient" it continues to pack our days closer to the 480 that the want. As soon as anything above regular volume comes down the pipe there's no way stations can cope because they're staffed on bar charts, not staffer intuition. A staffer can't bring in extra terms because they think Monday will be heavy, the union will shit a brick sideways.

If anything, more opportunities will arise because the senior guys taking overtime only take it because they have a 5 hour walk. As they push routes closer to 8 there is no way those guys are working in the dark, working past their 8, etc. They're also getting older, they're moving inside, they just don't want to do OT anymore as days get longer. So it works out well for us "younger" employees who don't care about working 10-12 hours because we can't afford houses or kids anyway, so why not work?

As far as CP trying to eliminate OT, I don't think management would push for it either. They absolutely want to limit own route 15.08 but 17.04 is a free for all. Is it cheaper to have a term (sitting in station) overstaffed on standby just in case, or to have me instead? That term costs ~$300 to sit there, maybe humping XX all day (working on the assumption that an average employee costs the employer wage x 2 to factor for benefits, pension, vacation, allowances, etc.) That term can reliably do 2 sections, maybe 3 on a Friday, it's luck of the draw how effective any given term will be. Or they get me, who sits on standby for free, and only costs them ~$40/hr and can handle 5-7 sections. Employees who do OT are treated like gods in a chaotic station, supervisors would trade 5 average carriers for someone who runs OT everyday, if their station eliminates OT then they know that carrier will go elsewhere. I really don't think they want that.
Mmm that makes sense. I never thought about it like that.

We have a ton of new terms right now and they are being mollycoddled even more than I was 3 years ago, and people told me I had it easy.

It seems that there is less OT but I have to remember there will invariably be one day a week where if you are willing to, you can still do 2/3 sections. You just have to be willing to. There just doesn’t seem to be as much one section a day availability.
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gotwgoty wrote:

However; won’t there be a major goal of Canada post to kill all this OT.
A few weeks ago, our staffing supervisor was given a firm directive to reduce OT as much as possible. He had been lenient previously, taking off splits, helping with massive amounts of parcels etc but it's been a lot less equal opp recently. The guys that suck it all up are crying and of course fighting about it lol.

But I do also agree with what mike is saying above. There will always be some OT, it's just the way things are set up.
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Deal Addict
May 22, 2015
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Keep in mind there's always a glut in OT this time of year. Few people are taking vacations this time of year and those who are generally don't own routes. They've also just started training again so there's an influx of hungry terms on the bench. Once staffing levels out in Q3 and seniors start taking their vacations and pre-retirement then things really open up. They're only given 1 body to backfill a vacation and lets be honest, if that backfill is a new hire they're not doing full routes - or even better, they're leaving parcels, the best kind of OT!
Newbie
Oct 19, 2019
56 posts
32 upvotes
postmancal wrote: Hi,

I'm just completing my LC training and reading all the messages on this site is depressing. Is there nothing good people can say about working at CPC or is it really that bad or is it that "happy" people never say anything and we just hear from the rest?

It's mostly temps who paint the bad picture. they don't have enough experience plus they get thrown around assignments and depots . It's very taxing when trying to learn the job and having your body adjust as well. Walking sounds easy but you'll realize exactly how out of shape you really are after a week/month. Once you pay your time and get promoted and full wage this job doesn't even feel like a job anymore. It almost works in reverse on how much time passes too quick before you're done a shift. , you get kind of upset if you're not done at an early time on a light day. where you're just clock watching a boring factory or office job etc..( when's lunch. when's break ) that doesn't work at Canada post unless you're in the plant, I've never worked in the plant but i'll assume that's how it works. .. You have maybe a handful of extreme weather days to battle , and a month rush around christmas where co,workers, supervisors personalities become volatile. Other than that , letter carrier is a wonderful and healthy occupation, but not many are cut out , patient or their current life factors like financials...require them to combat the obstacles to get to the points I've posted.
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mikebc wrote: Keep in mind there's always a glut in OT this time of year.
I think you mean the opposite. Glut means excess.
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Jr. Member
Nov 24, 2017
127 posts
175 upvotes
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postmancal wrote: Hi,

I'm just completing my LC training and reading all the messages on this site is depressing. Is there nothing good people can say about working at CPC or is it really that bad or is it that "happy" people never say anything and we just hear from the rest?

Keep in mind also that every depot is different. Your experience can vary greatly depending on a depot’s administration, and particularly on the character and temperament of both your staffing supervisor and your station supervisor.

This is unskilled labour, strictly speaking, so it’s fair to say you will discover that many of your co-workers are not rocket scientists (to put it mildly).
That said, again every depot is different, and there are also brighter people who have taken the job out of dissatisfaction with more traditional desk jobs.

But there is an administrative tendency to assume only a base level of intelligence on the part of its workforce. This can be challenging to navigate if you are even partially educated. This kind of thing is more pronounced in larger depots with higher temp turnovers.

* the same information will be repeated endlessly in meetings
* you will be cautioned about the weather over and over, even though you have presumably made it this far without dying
* the number of things that need to be scanned, signed, initialled, checked, verified, downloaded, uploaded, confirmed, monitored, and updated will only increase as time goes on

Then there are daily dealings with the general public. Again, a completely mixed bag, and location/situation does make a difference. Lots of decent people....but also a disturbing number of people who will cause you to question how we have even progressed this far as a species. You have to take it as you go, and not take things personally. In that respect, it’s probably still harder to work in retail.

But what others have said here is generally true.
Be prepared for 2-3 years of being tossed around and plenty of sh*t assignments, and not a great pay rate. But if you stick with it, things do improve after that.
Sr. Member
Mar 22, 2012
606 posts
334 upvotes
By the River
ashbridge12 wrote:
But what others have said here is generally true.
Be prepared for 2-3 years of being tossed around and plenty of sh*t assignments, and not a great pay rate. But if you stick with it, things do improve after that.
Until you get fulltime, then you start at the bottom again and are bounced around until you are able to get assigned to a depot....where you will likely be last to pick assignments again.
That first year of fulltime wasn't fun at all!!

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