December 21, 2005

Recently the president of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) embarked on a letter writing campaign falsely claiming that Canada Post is closing post offices, reducing services and cutting jobs. Directed at municipal boards and councils across the country, this letter writing campaign created unnecessary anxiety in an attempt to further the union's own self-serving agenda.

And what, exactly, is that agenda? To block any efforts to create a modern postal service, one that is more efficient, more responsive and more customer-centric. The sole concern of CUPW is to maintain dues-paying positions, without regard for current or future customer demand. Despite the fact that any Canada Post workload-related reductions occurring over the next several years would be met through normal attrition, via paid retirement, the union demands backfill unneeded positions, creating a 30-year salary and benefits obligation-and a pension obligation well beyond that. The fact that such a featherbedding practice is unsustainable seems not to bother the union bosses a whit, as they believe they will always have the Canadian taxpayer to backstop any losses.

Canada Post's mandate is to provide universal service at a universal price to all Canadians wherever they live. We do that very well. An independent measurement of Canada Post's delivery performance shows that 96 per cent of Lettermail in Canada is being delivered on time against published standards.

With the addition of some 240,000 new addresses to our network each year and declining Lettermail volumes, Canada Post today actually delivers less mail to more addresses, increasing our cost per piece to deliver. These new addresses alone cost Canada Post between $20 and $30 million a year. It takes sound management to find ways to meet these commitments in a cost effective manner.

The union's letter-writing campaign stems from the fact that last summer Canada Post announced the closure of the Québec Letter Processing Plant (QLPP). This was a business decision based on the fact that the QLPP no longer meets Canada Post's requirements. Seventy-one per cent of the mail sorted at the QLPP is destined for areas outside the Quebec City region. Our sorting plant in Montreal has sufficient capacity to handle the extra volume. Most relevant is the fact that no regular full-time or part-time employees will lose their job as a result of this change, which is spread over a two-year period. Canada Post will maintain some 1,100 jobs in Quebec City in other functions.

The union also raised the spectre of rural post office closures in its communications with municipalities. Again, it is important to look at the facts: Canada Post fully respects the moratorium on the closure of rural post offices. There are some 3,400 post offices in rural Canada and each year we experience a 10 per cent turnover, for various reasons. Contrary to the Union's claim that we are intent on closing post offices, we actually staff an average of 300 positions in rural Canada each year. In fact, since January 2005, more than 130 small post offices in rural Canada have been staffed or are in the process of being staffed.

There are, of course, isolated instances where the closure of a rural post office is unavoidable. For example, the death or retirement of the postmaster or a fire in the building in which the post office is housed can result in temporary closure. When these events occur, Canada Post consults with local officials to examine ways to provide continued service. In every instance, mail continues to be delivered in the community and the identity of that community is maintained. Where the consultation yields no viable options, and as a last resort, a consolidation of retail services with a nearby post office may occur. There is no infamous list of rural post offices targeted for closure and to suggest otherwise is tantamount to fear mongering.

Canada Post recognizes the CUPW's right to debate operational decisions taken by the company. But the debate must be fact-based. Raising the spectre of people losing their jobs and communities losing their post offices when that is simply not the case is irresponsible. And the union leaders who do this are doing a disservice to the very membership they purport to serve.

Sincerely,

Robert E. Waite
Senior Vice-President,
Communications and Shareholder Relations
Canada Post