Canadian Postal Strike is certainly having its toll!!

[duckyfromoz]

Sometimes I think it would be great if we could send live animals in the mail here in Australia- officially- we arent even allowed to send fertile eggs. But reading about all the stories of dead birds on these pages makes me glad we cant. Its would be so easy to overlook something that means the birds are misrouted. I was recently sending a friend 2000 klms away some duck eggs and forgot to tick a box - it meant instead of guaranteed next day delivery they went by road and took a week. I am amazed that 2 of the eggs are still viable 3 weeks into incubation and hope my friend does manage to hatch them. Sadly if these were live birds they would have all died. Its not just strikes that cause delays- you cant control a hold up if a truck breaks down so when considering how remote some places here in Australia really are- its good that we cannot ship live birds. We cant buy or sell fertile eggs or birds on Ebay either.

I can remember a few years where the postal workers have threatened strike action just before Christmas, In my opinion..if they dont like the working conditions- they should be looking for a different job- not putting out thousands of people who rely so heavily on mail being delivered. There would be plenty of people looking for work that would gladly have those jobs and get the mail delivered.

 

[Ema]

What irks me the most is that they have great benefit packages already and great retirement packages, plus they already get paid 19 dollars to start and 22 after three months and they want more. they want more because according to them they deliver about half as much mail now then they did 10 years ago...maybe its just me but if they are working less why are they asking for more, I mean they still get paid a full days pay regardless of how may hours they actually work, I know this because both my best friends parents are postal workers. they work 2 hours they still get paid 6 to 8 hours no matter what. My friends parents didn't want to go on strike and they are sitting at home, watching things unfold, their union forced the strike, and they had no say over the matter.

Ema

 

[TM Chickens]

That's the problem with state-ran enterprises who have an illegal monopoly. When the employees go on strike, the company couldn't care less. The strike has NO long term effects on the company. Once it's over, they can pick back to to business as usual. They won't have lost any customers, because people are required by law to use them. Mafia much?

On the other hand, if the government quit meddling with other people's businesses, it would be legal for FedEx, UPS, etc. to carry mail, and they could easily pick up the slack. After the first few days, mail would be back to flowing normally. Only difference would be that it wouldn't be the postal service carrying the stuff. How many of those people would want to go back after the strike was over? That would hurt the bottom line of the postal service SEVERELY.

But of course, being the government, they probably wouldn't care anyway.

 

[kstaven]

Quote:
If they could only manage to deliver guaranteed deliveries on time I might think they are worth a decent wage. 9 claims and over $900.00 in goods destroyed in 6 weeks. This is common for the service we get from Canada post. Our local post office is great but the sorting stations are totally useless and get it wrong more often than get it right.

If the government allowed competition they just might smarten up. Either that or private services would just run them out of business. Either way the consumer would win.

 

[ChikeeMomma]

Poor critters! That is awful!

 

[ebwy2]

it would never occur to me to send live animals through the postal service here... I think it's illegal anyway. the post office wouldn't get charged with animal cruelty, but here in the UK the sender would!

edit: just checked and we can send some things, but not birds etc!

Bees, leeches, pupae and chrysalides, caterpillars, lugworms, rag worms, earthworms, maggots, silkworms, fish fry and fish eggs, mealworms, crickets, certain parasites and destroyers of noxious pests, and some other insects sent between recognised institutions are allowed. You must use boxes that protect both the creatures and Royal Mail staff from harm. Use First Class as the minimum service and clearly label the package as "URGENT – LIVING CREATURES". Mark the sender's name and address on the outer wrapping.​

 

[chickened]

I would like to see fed ex or UPS do the job, they would do a great job if allowed, I think they would do live animals if they could make it possible within the company. You are right Kstaven they can get the job done for less. E-mail has hurt the PO more than anything just like the automobile and the horse and buggy.

 

[un-named]

Quote:
Do you know what my boss would do if I asked for a raise but told him I am cutting back productivity and expected to be paid a full days wages anyway?

This:

 

[EweSheep]

Employers and unions are the worse offenders for the common worker.

Unions can not provide jobs or employment or dictate what the employer must do....bottom line, employers hire people to work and they are the life line for workers. So really unions can not "power" up the employers, the employers CAN move elsewhere, fire or lay off everyone or dictate how it should run within reason, not to harm or kill workers but they do know how far they can go.

I see that too many times in this town when unions tried to get the employers down to their knees and it didn't work. I know unions there and useful in a certain way or things that are unhumane but to get all the extra perks, give me a break.

I hope the Canadian PO can resolve the matters quickly. It would be awful to find a bill from the hospital over 30 days and it is not your fault for PO problems of not delivering your mail in a timely manner. Everyone loses out.

 

[call ducks]

The strike has effected every one at this point....

the USPS well no longer take mail heading to Canada. some time Crown Corps just don't get it. I think that it is the Union and not the people that want higher wages (apperntly starting wage is some figure around 20-23/hour :O)


they are letting Government Assistance Checks out

that's probley the best part. <heres back to work legislation in my ears >