Canada Post has announced plans to cut 100 positions in Ottawa and transfer the processing of mail to Montreal. The corporation is also moving towards eventually shutting the processing plant at the corner of Riverside and Industrial. It's all part of Canada Post's plan to cut costs. The company lost more than $250-million dollars last year. Jobs will be lost in Ottawa, London and Hamilton. Canada Post employees were told today what the future holds for them; especially at processing plants like the one in Ottawa where 100 positions will be lost; the majority of them full time jobs.
Outside the processing plant on Riverside and Industrial, Canada Post employees were not entirely surprised by today’s developments.
“You had to face the fact that when the corporation loses $109 million,” says one employee, “somebody’s gotta go. That's a fact.”
Still, it is tough news for employees who have ridden the bumpy roller coaster ride with Canada Post. That ride is just beginning.
Jon Hamilton speaks for Canada Post, “As of the end of August, a lot of mail processing will move from Ottawa to Montreal. Customers shouldn't notice a difference but what they should see is that we are doing the things we need to do so we don't become a drain on the tax dollars.”
The company will also eventually "pull the plug" on the processing facility that has been a mainstay at the corner of Riverside and Industrial since the 1970's. The union representing postal workers plans to fight the changes.
"The National Capital will have no place to process its own mail,” says Denis Lemelin, the national president of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers,” "they surprise everybody and say today they will cut jobs and move them from Ottawa to Montreal to save money. But they save money on the backs of workers and on service.”
Last year, Canada Post delivered 1.2 billion fewer pieces of mail than it did in 2006. People have found cheaper and more convenient ways to pay bills and communicate with friends.
"I hardly do any mailing,” says Melane Hotz,” as she shops at a local Ottawa business, European Glass and Paint, “I pay everything on line, I receive my bills on line, through e-post and directly from vendors.”
But vendors like European Glass and Paint says rising postal rates have affected their bottom line.
"We're still receiving cheques,” says Crystal Guindon who works with the company, “and we still need to get our stuff out to people so we need to spend money on postage and as long as the postage goes up we're spending more money and not bringing in as much.”
Canada Post says where it has seen growth is in the delivery of parcels. So it plans to transform a company that was built on delivering a lot of mail and a few parcels to one that delivers a lot of parcels and a little bit of mail.
