A very old, hackneyed headline that gets trotted out every few years. I've lost count of the number of postal strikes and strike threats in this country.
Jul. 11, 2003. 02:53 PM Canada Post announces strike deadline Impact on small business could be 'devastating' CANADIAN PRESS OTTAWA - There has been more than five years of galloping telecommunications growth since Canada's last postal strike, but the country's dependence on deliveries of what savvy Internet users derisively call "snail mail" hasn't really abated, say experts. In fact, in the face of a July 18 strike deadline by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, one business lobby warned today that a postal stoppage would pack all the devastating economic impact of SARS and mad cow disease combined. "We've been hit by so much uncertainty: the Iraqi war, the border-crossing issue, the rising dollar, SARS and BSE (mad cow disease)," said Garth Whyte of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business. "This postal strike has the potential of being SARS and BSE combined to our membership." Whyte said a federation survey during the November 1997 strike estimated the shutdown was costing member businesses about $200 million a day. Last month, the 45,000 members of CUPW gave their union a 92 per cent strike mandate. Their contract expired Jan. 31. The strike deadline is set for 12:01 a.m. next Friday. The union and the corporation, while still hopeful of reaching a deal, are at an impasse over several key issues, including salaries, subcontracting, retirement, workload and work safety. Union president Deborah Bourque said today "there's no reason to write off Canada Post" despite the increase of e-mail and heavy competition from the courier industry. Last year, Canada Post moved 9.8 billion pieces of mail, a significant drop from the 11 billion carried in the year preceding the 1997 strike. But at 37 million pieces of mail per day and with an economic impact of more the $2 billion annually on Canada's gross domestic product, the postal service still packs quite a wallop. "There is no question that a lot of customers are using electronic means to pay their bills but that is still a minority of customers, and that's not the only function of Canada Post in the retail sector," said Diane Brisebois of the Retail Council of Canada. Retailers, especially smaller ones, are often dependent on the post for things such as promotional flyers, credit card invoices and receiving and shipping products. "A postal strike for them is quite devastating." Brisebois said private carriers simply can't fill the gap during a strike, and tend to give top priority to existing customers. "If you're a small merchant who hasn't used their services, you're at the bottom of the list. You might not even be able to get through to their 1-800 number or regional sales rep - assuming they service your area." John Gustavson of the Canadian Marketing Association said Canada Post continues to play as big a role as ever in the direct marketing sector. "When you order something over the Internet, somebody still has to deliver it, and Canada Post delivers a huge volume of product." As a representative of the Crown corporation's largest group of customers, Gustavson said he was told directly Thursday by the presidents of both Canada Post and CUPW that "they were quite confident a settlement could be reached." He also said there's a lot more at stake for Canada Post and its workers than just a labour disruption. "Every time there has been a postal strike, some mail volume has disappeared and not come back," said Gustavson. "We think that would be far more so (the case) in this day and age, as more and more people learn to use electronic means of taking care of their business." 73 Mike Brooker Toronto, ON ---[Start Commercial]--------------------- World Radio TV Handbook 2003 is out! Order it now! http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0823059677/hardcoredxcom ---[End Commercial]----------------------- ________________________________________ Hard-Core-DX mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www2.hard-core-dx.com/mailman/listinfo/hard-core-dx http://www.hard-core-dx.com/ _______________________________________________ THE INFORMATION IN THIS ARTICLE IS FREE. It may be copied, distributed and/or modified under the conditions set down in the Design Science License published by Michael Stutz at http://dsl.org/copyleft/dsl.txt