Canadian Post Office Strike Countdown

JLM

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Nov 27, 2008
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What you are saying makes sense, until you consider an alternative.

In the coal mining industry, a truck driver with 1 year experience gets paid the same as a truck driver with 30 years experience. And, this makes total sense because they are both expected to perform at the same level.

Seniority still matters. The senior workers are given the first pick of the trucks so they typically drive the new trucks. They get first choice for over time, they get paid more vacation pay, and they have more job security when there is a downsizing or restructuring.

That makes complete sense, that other guy is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay out to lunch. If your job is putting mail in mailboxes, the average person could get the hang of it in a month or two, so seniority doesn't improve performance.

Privatize the Post Office. It's a bloody dinosaur concept anyway.

I agree but with the proviso the good employees will automatically keep their jobs.
 

taxslave

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Nov 25, 2008
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Senior workers don't deserve more pay. the higher vacation pay and seniority perks should be enough

.imo, If 2 people are doing the same job, pay them the same wage.

It shouldn't be that difficult for the government to understand.

So are you saying that the overpaid and underworked senior union members should take a pay cut to bring them closer to reality?

That makes complete sense, that other guy is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay out to lunch. If your job is putting mail in mailboxes, the average person could get the hang of it in a month or two, so seniority doesn't improve performance.



I agree but with the proviso the good employees will automatically keep their jobs.

That is a given. All employers will go out of their way to keep the good employee while the union often goes to extremes to protect the worthless. And in the case of the government unions they are against any modernization that would eliminate jobs because it will cut into the amount of dues collected.
 

captain morgan

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Mar 28, 2009
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So are you saying that the overpaid and underworked senior union members should take a pay cut to bring them closer to reality?

Why not? Any individual that expects premium compensation for just showing up is fooling only themselves.

This is one of teh big reasons that the unions are fast becoming obsolete.

That is a given. All employers will go out of their way to keep the good employee while the union often goes to extremes to protect the worthless. And in the case of the government unions they are against any modernization that would eliminate jobs because it will cut into the amount of dues collected.

Remember 'zero-budget practices'?

You see it in the public sector and occasionally the private sector, but the big difference is that the private sector doesn't tolerate temper tantrums (read: strikes) when the situation comes to light.
 

JLM

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Nov 27, 2008
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So are you saying that the overpaid and underworked senior union members should take a pay cut to bring them closer to reality?



That is a given. All employers will go out of their way to keep the good employee while the union often goes to extremes to protect the worthless. And in the case of the government unions they are against any modernization that would eliminate jobs because it will cut into the amount of dues collected.

Valuing good workers is both desirable and compulsory in any successful organization, but Unions have a hard time seeing that the employee no matter how good is never as important as the reason for the position.
 

captain morgan

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Mar 28, 2009
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Okay.. how much do they make? ;)

I ain't your google bitch.

But on that note, how do we really evaluate the value of the work?.. National median income avg? Minimum wage multiplied by 'X'? Throw it to teh private sector and see how market value flushes-out?

For too many years, the gvt was in business to provide high paying jobs with (almost) absolute job security... That was not realistic then and it is even more poignant now.
 

JLM

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Nov 27, 2008
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i think the bottom is 90% of the mail I get and I assume lots of others too could be just as well delivered by someone of the calibre of a newspaper boy. Actually I don't get any "compulsory" mail- income is direct deposted and bill are automatically withdrawn, so most of the mail is just a nuisance anyway and actually a huge waste of paper. Get rid of that sh*t and we could lay off a few thousand pulp mill workers along with the postal workers.
 

cranky

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Apr 17, 2011
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So are you saying that the overpaid and underworked senior union members should take a pay cut to bring them closer to reality?

I think the words "overpaid and underworked" makes this a loaded question,so I refuse to answer this question with a yes or a no.
However, I will say that
a) I dont think a pay cut to senior workers is on the bargaining table, I thought that the government was only going after a pay cut to new hires., and
b) I think the government is proposing a discriminatory pay system, and
c) I hope that the union says "What ever you pay us, you pay new hires, end of story....now lets negotiate our pay."


That is a given. All employers will go out of their way to keep the good employee while the union often goes to extremes to protect the worthless.

I can not stress this enough: It is management's right and responsibility to screen their workforce in accordance to the collective agreement

True, it is common for a lazy or incompetant manager to ignore their responsibilities on this matter until one day they get fed up and dismiss the "worthless" worker for the wrong reason. This is the only time you find a union protecting a "worthless" employee.


And in the case of the government unions they are against any modernization that would eliminate jobs because it will cut into the amount of dues collected.

You may be correct, but I highly doubt that it is significant because of an inherent advantage to having a union, ie the higher cost of union labour stimulates an investment in capital equipment that increases the productivity of a worker.