The federal labor minister has recently intervened in labor disputes in the name of the public interest. Stopping the operation of strategic transport such as trains or ports would create too much damage to the economy. But in the case of Canada Post, the minister above all blindsided both parties regarding the self-destruction of their company.
The strike called by the postal union risks having terrible consequences for the organization. Day after day, customers get lost and may never return. In fact, the strike accelerates the loss of customers that is already underway.
Let’s clarify one thing: I like Postal workers. They don’t earn big salaries, they do demanding work rain or shine. Those I have met are friendly and dedicated people. Basically, I don’t consider them to be abusers of the system and I don’t wish them harm.
Colossal losses
However, I see the dead end their union has put them in. The Post Office may be a public company, but the shareholder, the government, will not allow it to lose money endlessly. Last year, the company lost $750 million. This year, according to what we see from the trend, it will burn more than a billion.
A company in this financial situation cannot sign new agreements with staggering increases. At best, it will try to protect the purchasing power of its employees in order to keep them.
However, the strike risks seriously worsening the financial situation of the Company. Let’s take a cold look at the impact of the strike on the two business segments of the Post Office.
First the mail. It is constantly decreasing, year after year. Today’s volume is less than half that of 20 years ago. But what is happening these days? Institutions, banks, insurers communicate with their customers to offer them electronic communications.
Personally, I already received little useful mail. This low volume will probably be cut in half again after the strike. I talk to people around me, they tell me the same thing. Obviously, this mail will not come back.
The packages?
The second sector is parcels. In this case, the needs are growing because of the popularity of online shopping. We are currently in the big shopping period.
Think of all the small merchants who have gone out of their way over the past two weeks to find another delivery company. How many of them will have forever put an X on Canada Post services? Even those who come back, I would bet that they will no longer put all their eggs in one basket with Canada Post.
Lost customers and volume declines risk forcing Canada Post to implement massive layoffs. We will have a great convention, but for whom?
