Transport committee  We understand quite clearly that the viability of public postal service protects our jobs, and without a viable public postal service we don't have a lot of job security for the future. We understand the two are linked. Right now our interest is protecting the jobs that we curren

Transport committee  I'm not sure I understand the nuance. I just want to reiterate our concern around the remailers. Part of it is around the money, but most of it is based on the undermining of the exclusive privilege. We see this as the thin edge of the wedge, if you like. If the act can be chang

Transport committee  Our concern is basically public postal service. We would prefer that Canada Post not make the profits it has been making and not pay the millions of dollars in dividends it pays to the federal government. We would prefer that the profits and the dividends be put back into improvi

Transport committee  I hope we're not, because Canada Post should now be using the proper tool. A third party has been engaged by Canada Post and they've developed a tool, a process for assessing the rural mailboxes, that we've agreed to. It's our view that those boxes that were assessed without the

Transport committee  Sorry. Okay, but we're on the same page here. We agree completely with restoring rural delivery exactly as you've articulated it.

Transport committee  Can I respond? I agree completely with everything you just said. We understand that jobs are at risk in terms of going from lot line delivery to community mailboxes. We also understand the implications for rural communities in terms of the loss of that lot line delivery, so we'r

Transport committee  Yes, absolutely. Canada Post has a monopoly on first-class letter mail, and with that monopoly comes the universal service obligation. Canada Post's competitors don't have an obligation to deliver mail at a uniform rate to every community in Canada and Quebec. Private competitors

Transport committee  Could I just add one small point to that? Canada Post has recently released figures that indicate that complying with the government's directive on rural mail delivery would cost around $500 million. And that's a lot of money, even for a profitable corporation like Canada Post.

Transport committee  Yes. I must say that I'm not an expert on the international remail industry, but that is my understanding. Mail is collected here in Canada by these businesses, and it's transported to other countries where there are lower postage rates. There are mailing houses in Canada that

Transport committee  It's my understanding that Canada Post tried to resolve this issue diplomatically through the Universal Postal Union. It is a body of the United Nations that brings together postal administrations from around the world to look at issues like privatization, public services, deregu

Transport committee  I think you'd have to ask Canada Post that.

Transport committee  No, I couldn't say there's been a decrease in our membership because of the competition. Frankly, that's not our primary concern here. Our primary concern is that the exclusive privilege not be undermined, because we understand very clearly that it's the exclusive privilege that

Transport committee  Thank you. On behalf of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, I want to thank you very much for the opportunity to appear before this committee. CUPW represents 54,000 workers in rural and urban communities from coast to coast to coast. A majority of our members work for Canad

Human Resources committee  My only point was that the CFIB tends to play pretty fast and loose with statistics, and one should be very cautious about relying on them. We understand the impact of a postal strike on communities, businesses, and individuals, and that's why we take the right to strike very ser

Human Resources committee  Thanks very much. Yes, my union has been subjected to the use of scabs in two of our strikes. I just wanted to say that when employers use scabs to try to break strikes, the long-term effect on labour relations can be disastrous. It takes decades for unions and employers to reco