Canada Post Closings...Secretly Privatizing?

In the recent flurry of post office closings by Canada Post across the country, the local postal workers’ union has a new ally… the federal NDP. 

According to the Gazette, Canada Post has closed 37 outlets since 2012… 19 of which were in Quebec, 12 of those were all in Montreal.

NDP Labour critic Alexandre Boulerice has accused Canada Post of disproportionately targeting Quebec post offices because of Stephen Harpers lack of support in the province. 

He adds that the closures are anti-union, as workers are replaced by non-unionized staff that work in postal counters in retail outlets. 

He says that people need to see this as a disguised privatization that will result in poorer service due to weak training and reduced hours of service…  as Canada Post replaces good jobs with those that pay just over minimum wage.

A spokesperson for Canada Post, Anick Losier, said that the corporation has seen a substantial drop in mail… one billion letters less since 2006… and a report from the Conference Board of Canada predicted a billion-dollar deficit by 2020 if nothing was done. 

Flickr Photo by: Eva

STORY WRITTEN BY: CATLIN SPENCER