Cuts to hours will negatively affect some of the South Okanagan’s rural post offices said the Canadian Postmasters union.
Carolyn Elliott, vice-president of the Canada Postmasters and Assistants Association B.C. and Yukon branch said a letter sent out in December to all post offices in the province informing of reductions, whether they are affected or not, was simply a “nasty scare tactic.” Locally, potentially affected offices are in Kaleden, Okanagan Falls and Keremeos.
“The CPAA has real concerns these cutbacks are going to affect the communities in a couple of ways. One is there will be longer lineups at the counters, which is inevitable because the hours are being cut for the personnel that are at the counter, as well as, we are also the same employees that sort the mail in rural Canada so it’s going to cause delays in the delivery of the mail whether they receive their mail directly at the post office or on the rural route,” said Elliott. “Workers in the offices are really nervous and upset. The morale is down and it was a really rotten time of year for the corporation to send out letters like that”
The letter to the union that represents postmasters and their assistants in rural Canada states the proposed changes include deletions of vacant positions and hour reductions. Elliott believes these could be happening as early as Feb.1. She said in the Kaleden office they are looking at reducing one of the part-time employees by three hours per week. In Okanagan Falls a full-time position is being considered to lose five hours per week and in Keremeos an employee could potentially lose two hours per week.
“When you say that it doesn’t sound like a lot, but that is 50 per cent of some of these peoples income that is gone. That is a big cut for them,” said Elliott.
The CPAA representative said Canada Post is using the argument that the mail volumes are down.
“What we see in rural Canada is the mail volumes are not down as much as it is in urban areas. In rural Canada the post offices are still a huge part of the people’s connection to the outside world. People are still really using the post office,” said Elliott.
The representatives of the union will be meeting with Canada Post on Jan. 17 to consult on the changes. At that time, the CPAA will have an opportunity to discuss all questions or concerns arising from the proposed changes.
“The cuts are still on the table and we are hoping that we can get the community involved and get them to try and help the postal employees save their hours in the offices. We are asking the public to contact their MP as well as Rod Merrifield, the minister responsible for Canada Post. Or, they can contact Canada Post directly if they have concerns,” said Elliott.
One of the suggestions the CPAA hopes to propose on Jan. 17 is that Canada Post, in conjunction with the CPAA, go into each office and assess the merits individually to come to a decision how many hours are required to operate each week.
“We don’t see them doing that they are just looking at the collective agreement and seeing where they can make an hour reduction on each office. They are just going ahead and cutting hours and aren’t looking at the office, the community and seeing what the needs are,” said Elliott. “Unfortunately these cuts, under the collective agreement, can be made so we are under the feeling the corporation is going to go ahead and do it and they really aren’t too interested in what the CPAA has to say.”
B.C. Southern Interior MP, Alex Atamanenko, condemned the Canada Post move in a letter he sent to the CEO, Stewart Bacon. He implored that the Crown corporation rescind the recent policy shift because of the impact it will have on rural community members and the employees it will affect.
“Most of these folks are barely surviving with the hours that they currently have. A cut for them will be devastating and cause a disruption to service,” said Atamanenko. “There is a devastating impact on our communities when hours are cut and retired workers are not replaced. At the same time, Canada Post is not only mandated to make a profit, but to give part of this profit to the federal government as additional revenue. This does not make any sense at all.”