Careers

[Merged] Ask Me About Working For Canada Post

Deal Fanatic
May 5, 2008
6315 posts
3092 upvotes
Manitoba
They also put every employee in arrears which won’t help numbers
Sr. Member
Jun 8, 2019
750 posts
398 upvotes
It would be terrible for regular people if usps got privatized... but great for the ups and fedex lobbyists in Washington and the politicians they have in their pocket.

They’d privatize and suddenly no longer have to have 75 years of pension to account for. Also, suddenly people in rural areas would have to pay true prices for shipping.

This is a bad year for this... the republicans really do not want mail in voting for obvious reasons so they will be even more anti usps than they usually are.

It could also be a good year because it might be a bad look to privatize usps during a pandemic. Who knows...

Same logic applies to Canada btw... privatizing Canada post is just **** a shit ton of regular people for not much gains. We should be a service that can run at a moderate loss. Yes, that service could be streamlined obviously but privatization won’t streamline it while not taxing people for not living in cities.
Last edited by gotwgoty on Apr 11th, 2020 1:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Deal Addict
May 22, 2015
3307 posts
3849 upvotes
Apparently parcels will be dying down shortly as Amazon is heavily delaying orders and using only its own delivery services in MMAs. The Ontario plants are running 3 shifts all weekend but the Vancouver plant is not, I don't even think they're running a third shift on Monday. UA-Admail is a billion dollar a year service, meaning maybe $200M / quarter. Coupled with the loss of AA I don't see how anything short of Christmas volumes for 6 months straight could pull our expenses out of a spiral, especially with their creative accounting.
Sr. Member
Jun 8, 2019
750 posts
398 upvotes
mikebc wrote: Apparently parcels will be dying down shortly as Amazon is heavily delaying orders and using only its own delivery services in MMAs. The Ontario plants are running 3 shifts all weekend but the Vancouver plant is not, I don't even think they're running a third shift on Monday. UA-Admail is a billion dollar a year service, meaning maybe $200M / quarter. Coupled with the loss of AA I don't see how anything short of Christmas volumes for 6 months straight could pull our expenses out of a spiral, especially with their creative accounting.
Well, one good thing is that it’s going to be hard for a liberal government to bail out everyone else and privatize Canada post after a bad year. The next election doesn’t seem a feasible until next fall.

If amazon gets it together in say a month or two maybe the bleeding won’t be too bad.
Deal Addict
Oct 16, 2014
3206 posts
2498 upvotes
at the chiropractors
mikebc wrote: Apparently parcels will be dying down shortly as Amazon is heavily delaying orders and using only its own delivery services in MMAs. The Ontario plants are running 3 shifts all weekend but the Vancouver plant is not, I don't even think they're running a third shift on Monday. UA-Admail is a billion dollar a year service, meaning maybe $200M / quarter. Coupled with the loss of AA I don't see how anything short of Christmas volumes for 6 months straight could pull our expenses out of a spiral, especially with their creative accounting.
Not in Ontario, I am working several "extra shifts" this weekend for parcels...... Looks like it may be a Vancouver stocking problem. UA loss has not been all year, most of the downturn has been for let's say ....1 month. It will all depend on how long and how "lock down" that the governments keep us in. Also, for that last month, for only my experience, ad mail has been down, but I have only had 2 days so far without a flyer, so down (lots) but also not down to 0 either....

Oh, and also, I am translating your "mma" to mean major market area? If so, I am still in a major market, and my Amazon parcels/packets have probably doubled. Almost everyday is like Christmas now......
Sometimes the truth hurts. The other times it hurts worse....
Newbie
Oct 25, 2017
78 posts
70 upvotes
PT conversion hasn't stopped. I know of one that converted last fall and one that was supposed to this spring.
Deal Addict
Oct 16, 2014
3206 posts
2498 upvotes
at the chiropractors
gotwgoty wrote: Well, one good thing is that it’s going to be hard for a liberal government to bail out everyone else and privatize Canada post after a bad year. The next election doesn’t seem a feasible until next fall.

If amazon gets it together in say a month or two maybe the bleeding won’t be too bad.
Privatizing CP is just a Conservative mantra. It won't happen under the libs. Especially, this one....
Sometimes the truth hurts. The other times it hurts worse....
Sr. Member
Jun 8, 2019
750 posts
398 upvotes
timetotellthetruth wrote: Not in Ontario, I am working several "extra shifts" this weekend for parcels...... Looks like it may be a Vancouver stocking problem. UA loss has not been all year, most of the downturn has been for let's say ....1 month. It will all depend on how long and how "lock down" that the governments keep us in. Also, for that last month, for only my experience, ad mail has been down, but I have only had 2 days so far without a flyer, so down (lots) but also not down to 0 either....

Oh, and also, I am translating your "mma" to mean major market area? If so, I am still in a major market, and my Amazon parcels/packets have probably doubled. Almost everyday is like Christmas now......
What’s UA and AA?

Mike said AA I think but I figure you’d know both.
Sr. Member
Jun 8, 2019
750 posts
398 upvotes
timetotellthetruth wrote: Privatizing CP is just a Conservative mantra. It won't happen under the libs. Especially, this one....
That’s my feeling too but I don’t think I’d ever not vote liberal so I’m biased.
Deal Addict
Oct 16, 2014
3206 posts
2498 upvotes
at the chiropractors
gotwgoty wrote: What’s UA and AA?

Mike said AA I think but I figure you’d know both.
Unaddressed admail, Addressed admail
Sometimes the truth hurts. The other times it hurts worse....
Sr. Member
Jun 8, 2019
750 posts
398 upvotes
timetotellthetruth wrote: Unaddressed admail, Addressed admail
Gotcha. Unaddressed mail is Neighbourhood mail I guess.

We have too many acronyms but I should have worked those out.
Deal Addict
May 22, 2015
3307 posts
3849 upvotes
I think the kicker with UA is that it's not profitable to pay you to deliver one set (as a whole, from a route build perspective). Once you're carrying 10 sets then CP reaps profits but there's probably a break even point; lets say CP gets $0.06 per flyer, we take $.015, adding OA/flyer prep to our route probably factors to a significant number. Just to expand on that, I'm talking about how we get paid for even when we're not prepping - if your route got a 15 minute over assessment credit when they slashed flyer pay, that's $26x1.5x.25=$10/day. Lets say the average route has 600 calls, so 200 calls per day. If they're profiting $0.025/flyer then you need to deliver at least 2 sets per day for them to break even (god forbid you go into OT as a term because you have flyers). So while I'm only carrying 1-2 pieces currently (and days with no flyers are getting more common; CT is open but has called off flyers as have the other big "grocery" chains - Safeway, Walmart, No Frills etc., which pay $.025 per) I don't see that being enough of a trickle to counter the prep times we're getting paid for. As flyer printers, warehousers and distribution networks no longer have the work to bring in full crews daily they'll start closing down too. CP is losing money (in the grand build process, not the current predicament) by having you carry 1 or 2 flyers.

In that, I think the union actually did good in this very specific scenario by giving away our variable flyer pay in exchange for a static time-based payout. A completely unintended win coming as a result of a previously unimaginable work stoppage, but, I guess they need the win.
Sr. Member
Jun 8, 2019
750 posts
398 upvotes
This all brings me back to something I’ve thought for a while now.

Higher ups in Canada post are just waiting for a conservative majority so they can either push through massive reform or worst case just privatize the company. They don’t have any incentive to make any changes right now because the less money Canada post makes when the cons get in the better.

The most logical long term thing the union could do is negotiate now (when pandemic is over) with a liberal government on reforms.

Agree to freeze job hiring and get a guarantee on current jobs in return. Come to the table with ideas on ways to streamline the company. Be part of the process. Get the Canada post bank as part of the deal.

There is downside risk to this in that the conservatives might not be in again for half a decade but still.. my instinct would be to be proactive.

At some point, someone is going to make massive changes to Canada post and the most likely culprit will not be the one we want doing the job.
Deal Addict
May 22, 2015
3307 posts
3849 upvotes
Well Deepak Chopra was appointed by the Conservatives to basically bundle CP up for privatization. Another woman was brought in who drafted how Royal Mail was privatized as well. PT conversion, CMB conversion, all options brought in to streamline and automate at the expense of customer service. The Liberals got in, stopped CMB conversion, which in turn got CP to pause on PT conversion (because there's no point restructuring to PT then restructuring for CMB conversion shortly after). I wasn't aware they'd resumed PT conversion but I guess after the Liberal's second term then figured they couldn't hold off any longer.

So we got Doug Ettinger, who I'd argue does have a reason to get CP back on track for growth - for a bigger bonus and pension. I doubt there is a mandate in house similar to what we knew was there under Harper. They still have their official mandate to provide services while being sustainable. As soon as they dip below that it means Doug et al are out on the streets, I doubt they have the same golden parachutes that Chopra had.

However, we just keep getting more of the status quo "oh things seem to be running lets just leave it and milk the paycheque" type leadership. I had high hopes for Anita Anand (current MP for Public Services) as she has a business law background and might (just maybe) give the smallest shit about righting this ship, but she can't do much in the current situation. Though I had similar hopes for Carla Qualtrough, who was a chair on the workers' compensation tribunal, and ultimately she did absolutely **** all to help modernize Canada Post or the struggle of its employees.
Sr. Member
Jun 8, 2019
750 posts
398 upvotes
mikebc wrote: Well Deepak Chopra was appointed by the Conservatives to basically bundle CP up for privatization. Another woman was brought in who drafted how Royal Mail was privatized as well. PT conversion, CMB conversion, all options brought in to streamline and automate at the expense of customer service. The Liberals got in, stopped CMB conversion, which in turn got CP to pause on PT conversion (because there's no point restructuring to PT then restructuring for CMB conversion shortly after). I wasn't aware they'd resumed PT conversion but I guess after the Liberal's second term then figured they couldn't hold off any longer.

So we got Doug Ettinger, who I'd argue does have a reason to get CP back on track for growth - for a bigger bonus and pension. I doubt there is a mandate in house similar to what we knew was there under Harper. They still have their official mandate to provide services while being sustainable. As soon as they dip below that it means Doug et al are out on the streets, I doubt they have the same golden parachutes that Chopra had.

However, we just keep getting more of the status quo "oh things seem to be running lets just leave it and milk the paycheque" type leadership. I had high hopes for Anita Anand (current MP for Public Services) as she has a business law background and might (just maybe) give the smallest shit about righting this ship, but she can't do much in the current situation. Though I had similar hopes for Carla Qualtrough, who was a chair on the workers' compensation tribunal, and ultimately she did absolutely **** all to help modernize Canada Post or the struggle of its employees.
The union is a problem with all that. It’s not worth the optics for the liberals to tangle with the union because the cons will just ‘solve’ that problem down the road and there isn’t any blood on their hands. You need to incentivize them.

The union is in an untenable position. Mail gets less and less essential year by year and thus leverage decreases year by year. With no leverage, unions will get broken each and every time.

However, if you came to the liberals with solutions, an agreement to go along with any solution that includes a small list of must haves, then they would be incentivized to get involved as would the corporation. There wouldn’t need to be drawn out negotiation, just each side put in there must haves and then experts could figure out the best way to get there.

The problem is that it would be understandably extremely hard for the union to do this. I can’t think of another union who has done this but it would be really smart long term imo.

People would hate it within Canada post. Any solution would probably make our job harder. But it would make it more likely that there is reasonably well paid jobs in 15/20 years.
Sr. Member
User avatar
Apr 12, 2011
745 posts
651 upvotes
Etobicoke
mikebc, gotwgoty and some others... you guys sound too smart to be LCs! Can we somehow get YOU GUYS into management and turn this CP ship on course?
Deal Addict
Oct 16, 2014
3206 posts
2498 upvotes
at the chiropractors
fishscale4sale wrote: mikebc, gotwgoty and some others... you guys sound too smart to be LCs! Can we somehow get YOU GUYS into management and turn this CP ship on course?
Ironic is when you figure out that the smart people who should be running either the company/or the union, don't and stay as letter carriers............because they are smart.......lol
Sometimes the truth hurts. The other times it hurts worse....
Deal Guru
User avatar
Jan 30, 2006
14641 posts
3365 upvotes
Vancouver
The longer this virus thing keeps going the better for the dismantling of this orange moron and his republicans! But there has to be an election in November. That seems in doubt?

Top

Thread Information

There are currently 4 users viewing this thread. (2 members and 2 guests)

Helidaz, OverallEffective