Canada Post workers weren’t warned about cuts: employee
Posted December 11, 2013 2:28 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Canada Post workers were caught by surprise today, with many only hearing from media that door-to-door postal carriers are going to be phased out over the next five years.
One worker, who asked to remain anonymous, tells us they have weekly meetings and it would have been nice if Canada Post had warned them first.
“I was listening to News1130 out of my mail truck as they came out with the announcement. My mouth was hanging open because as an employee, I’m kind of disgusted with my own company that they wouldn’t tell employees first,” she tells us.
The employee, who has worked with Canada Post for 19 years, says she’s now definitely worried about her own job.
John Bail of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers agrees the announcement did come as a surprise. “You should talk to your employees before you throw things at them in surprise. Why would they do this for their employees just before Christmas? Why didn’t they give us a chance to have a say in what we could do to try and make this corporation work better?”
Bail says the union will be lobbying to change the government’s mind.
The national mail service plans to phase out home delivery within the next five years, replacing foot delivery with community mail boxes.
Canada Post says about 6,000 to 8,000 positions will be eliminated over the same time period, mainly through attrition. It expects nearly 15,000 employees to retire or leave the company in the next five years.
It says it can no longer continue traditional operations, blaming rising costs and falling mail volumes.
