Canada Postal Strike Set for Thursday

[Phroge]

You are right its not 2% per year. The company offered 2.9%, the union want 3.3%. I guess if you consider 3% a MASSIVE pay increase when that is about the rate of inflation, I certainly wouldn't want to work for you LOL

The wages are covered by the PROFITS of the company, Canada post made money last year. The only way it is coming out of your pocket is if you use their servces.

This has become the problem with unions. The union sees that the company has made a profit. The union demands increased wages and benefits because there is a profit. The next thing you know is there is no more profit, the company is losing money, and the union is complaining about cuts to the workforce and/or number of hours. The union says with fewer workers and time, they need to be paid more because of the extra work they have to do.

The workers ought to be happy they have a job in the first place. If the workers want to strike, the company should tell them "Go ahead and strike, you can pick up your final paycheck on your way out."

 

[kalvinf]

The workers ought to be happy they have a job in the first place. If the workers want to strike, the company should tell them "Go ahead and strike, you can pick up your final paycheck on your way out."

Between unions and company owners it is a balance that works. This balance is usually arrived at with contentious methods. As you advocate Phroge this would negate unions entirely. Companies without a unionized workforce can get as brutal as a union that has a company "over the barrel". There is a great deal of literature written on labour vs capital of which it would be difficult to summarize here, but there was a very good reason for the union movement to have started in the first place in the 1950's.

The only way to balance and maintain fairness all around is to have unionized workforces with the attending negotiation process and the right to strike.

 

[Concat]

And remember, it's not like the entire workforce votes on it. Don't blame the workers outright. They pretty much have to go along with the Union reps' decision.

These small strikes are just a message. Workers don't want to spend a month getting a fraction of their wage. The Union is being smart by not angering the workers who oppose and cannot afford a prolonged strike.

 

[Crow79]

And remember, it's not like the entire workforce votes on it. Don't blame the workers outright. They pretty much have to go along with the Union reps' decision.

These small strikes are just a message. Workers don't want to spend a month getting a fraction of their wage. The Union is being smart by not angering the workers who oppose and cannot afford a prolonged strike.

Not entirely true! A couple of years ago, in my last CBA as a union employee, our union recommended that we vote NOT to accept the company proposal and deliver a strike deadline.

The membership voted a resounding 83% in FAVOUR of the new contract - nobody wanted the hassle of a strike.

The union is also being very smart in that with having only a 24hour rotating strike, they will not have to pay ANY strike pay out to any of the members. I mean 48,000 people * $200 a week = $100k in strike pay the union would have to dish out every week. They DO NOT want to do that, trust me!

 

[fcitrolo]

48,000 employees @ $200/week = $9.6 Million/week the union would go bankrupt.

 

[Bdbodger]

As an essential service a full blown strike would mean legislation to order them back with a crappy government set contract that favors Canada Post . I work for an industry that is considered an essential service and you can't win when the government imposes a contract on you .

 

[Crow79]

48,000 employees @ $200/week = $9.6 Million/week the union would go bankrupt.

Clearly absinthe has damaged my mathematical abilities!!

Nonetheless, $200 per week per employee is what it would cost them.

 

[kingcobra]

I'm not a real big fan of unions in their present form, although there's nothing wrong with workers banding together like this. The problem arises when the government steps in to skew things in the employees favor which interferes with companies' right to pursue their own best interest as well. The natural state of affairs so to speak is definitely weighted in the employers' favor, meaning that the employee needs a job more than they need to hire you, and if left unchecked you get the exploitation that was prevalent in the earlier days and exists in a lot of developing countries.

For instance, faced with the choice between working and starvation, people will work for food, and it's only when enough people get together and decide they deserve more than mere survival that things can change. However when the inmates start running the asylum like is the case with the CUPW for instance, when the company can't do a damn thing without permission from the union, like for instance look to modernize their facilities, make them more efficient, and thus save taxpayers money, then things have gotten too far out of hand in the other direction.

One of the big issues right now is in fact modernization, and the union is up in arms about that. This whole deal with the post office becoming a bank is an even more telling example of how out of hand this all can get. They aren't even asking, they are demanding it. It's certainly easier to empathize with workers than a big corporation, but what people should be focusing on instead is people in a lot of other industries who can't even dream of such a sweet deal as these folks have already, and they are asking for even more.

The reason this is the case is that the country still relies on postal service to an extent that a strike ends up holding us all for ransom in a sense. This is indeed enough of an essential service that striking shouldn't be allowed at all and should instead be subject to an alternative means of resolving disputes such as arbitration.

 

[Bdbodger]

The reason this is the case is that the country still relies on postal service to an extent that a strike ends up holding us all for ransom in a sense. This is indeed enough of an essential service that striking shouldn't be allowed at all and should instead be subject to an alternative means of resolving disputes such as arbitration.

The only thing any union has is the right to strike or work to rule . Working to rule usually ends up with a lockout . When neither side will budge then the government imposes a contract on the parties that although favors Canada Post it does not give them what they want either . like I said government contracts are not good for anyone .

 

[wood]

i enjoy being a union member , i dont agree , maybe its different in the trades but being a union sprinkler fitter and plumber i know i like have people fight for a higher wage for me and better benefits , i have only bee in a union for 5 years but compared to the non union companys i did work for it was much better , i always felt exploited and underpaid before but i also worked for family so maybe not the most realistic comparison but i dont think unions are evil but i guess being a plumbers union is also different than a government workers union

 

[Danesnpits]

Is it true that after 2 weeks the gov't can order the workers to return back to work, even if no contract has been set?

 

[Illuminatu]

No idea about this DanesNPits,

But I'm utterly ...... at those union workers, now the strike is hitting Montréal on Monday, and from what i was told by some workers getting ready to do picket, they might extend the strike here over 24 hours , because it hurts allot more people and businesses... Seriously ,what the F$@# are they expecting from us the people... Any support ? Because when you tell a citizen in the street you intend to "hurt" businesses and the customers, you really think we are gonna support that and the crybaby attitude? Especially after i just read an article in the Journal de Montreal, about Canada Posts employee being the most well paid and covered postal workers in the world ? There are second to none in the business according to that article.
(my only source is that article.. so i don't know about veracity but usually I'm guessing its verified info?)

I'll end my rant here, and say that I'm almost out of 808 supplies and I'm so mad that I'm considering to go buy a pack of smoke and smoking it all

Meh

 

[IanK1968]

June 5, 2011

For Immediate Release – OTTAWA – The Canadian Union of Postal Workers is moving its rotating strike to Montreal following the 48-hour strike for Hamilton postal workers. Postal workers in Montreal will hit the picket lines tonight at 11:30 p.m. EDT for a period of 24 hours. "Montreal is another place where Canada Post has already begun its $2 billion postal transformation," said Denis Lemelin, National President and Chief Negotiator. "As we saw in Winnipeg, Montreal postal workers are being forced to work with new machines and methods without proper safety studies beforehand."

 

[sparky604]

I'll end my rant here, and say that I'm almost out of 808 supplies and I'm so mad that I'm considering to go buy a pack of smoke and smoking it all

Meh

Jack at Happy Vaper sells 808 cartos.
Blank (empty) cartomizers (cartridge + atomizer combined into a single unit) for the KR808D-1 model of e-cigarette.

Jack also sells 808 battery -> 510 atomizer connectors, so that you can use your other cartos with your existing battery.
Canadian E-cigarette 401, 510, 810, 901/KR8 Battery to 401, 4081/103, 510, 901/KR808D-1 Atomizer Adaptor

They're using UPS or Purolator to ship while the outage is happening, so you can have your stuff in a few days. What's stopping you? It's not that expensive for the extra shipping, certainly cheaper than resuming smoking would be.

 

[Illuminatu]

Thanks for the info Sparky604, i might pass an order tonight, but i have been burned allot recently by quebec/canadian suppliers, the only place i had excellent service from in canada was northernvapor but they had nothing for my 808, but they have friggin quick service tho, took like 2 days to get to me. But unless I'm mistaken Happy vaper has a great rep and is a fave supplier of DanesNPits. So might be worth a try instead of smoking analogs.

Edit: Sorry about my earlier rant.... just flabergasted that those people I met in Montreal would go out and publicly admit they want to hurt businesses and customers. I was kinda shocked, anyhow I do not know how they hope getting sympathy with such an attitude. There killing there own business by themselves !

 

[zer0ith]

All feelings aside (I don't want to get into an argument about this) at least its a rotating strike and not a walk off strike. Things are still getting delivered maybe a couple of days later but still delivered.

I will say this. Almost every supplier I have seen has provided different shipping methods so you do have to give them a big thumbs up for not letting us run completely out of our supplies.

 

[sparky604]

Thanks for the info Sparky604, i might pass an order tonight, but i have been burned allot recently by quebec/canadian suppliers, the only place i had excellent service from in canada was northernvapor but they had nothing for my 808, but they have friggin quick service tho, took like 2 days to get to me. But unless I'm mistaken Happy vaper has a great rep and is a fave supplier of DanesNPits. So might be worth a try instead of smoking analogs.

Jack is the king of service; I'd bet someone else's money that there would be no problems ordering from him. Seriously, Jack is a good guy and will do whatever it takes to make sure you are satisfied with the transaction, I doubt it's possible to find anyone that considers themselves to have been burned by Happy Vaper. The sooner you order, the sooner you'll have your stuff and be less stressed

 

[NatureBoy]

Starting wage is $19/hr for postal workers.... yeah, they have it tough.

 

[wood]

people get to bent out of shape over small issues

 

[Crow79]

June 5, 2011

For Immediate Release – OTTAWA – The Canadian Union of Postal Workers is moving its rotating strike to Montreal following the 48-hour strike for Hamilton postal workers. Postal workers in Montreal will hit the picket lines tonight at 11:30 p.m. EDT for a period of 24 hours. "Montreal is another place where Canada Post has already begun its $2 billion postal transformation," said Denis Lemelin, National President and Chief Negotiator. "As we saw in Winnipeg, Montreal postal workers are being forced to work with new machines and methods without proper safety studies beforehand."

Classic. I remember when I was still unionized in Toronto, and the membership refused to carry anything over 23lbs because they were not trained how to LIFT PROPERLY!!

I thought to myself - are you SERIOUS?? You were trained back in Grade 5 phys-ed, and probably every year through high school after that!!! Get your head out of yer ..... Eventually the company had to include lifting as part of our yearly training course. Then people complained they had to keep re-training on lifting every year. Sheesh.

Furthermore, the union is just angry that modernization is elimintaing some jobs. It has virtually NOTHING to do with safety, of that you can be assured. They have manufactured some bogus excuses to put a wrench in the plans, that's all.