Canada Post Discusses Profits at Meeting

But where's the social profit?

On June 13, Canada Post held its first ever annual public meeting at the Hotel Fort Garry in Winnipeg. True to their corporate culture, they talked mainly about efficiency and profitability with the very briefest of nods to transparency.

They talked about how the corporation operated in the black for the last 11 consecutive years and in 2005 realized a profit of $199 million. Their labour relations have been co-operative and their union, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW), worked with them on a number of pilot projects to improve the service to customers. Good Job.

Gordon Feeney, Chair of the Canada Post's Board, and Moya Greene, President and CEO, waxed poetic about meeting their customers needs, seizing opportunities and becoming more efficient and profitable. The first question from those in attendance dealt with transparency and how Canada Post will deal with Manitoba facilities in light of the elimination of the Quebec City facility. While Greene noted that they adhered to the necessary clauses within the collective agreement regarding the shifting of the work from Quebec City to Montreal, the question of Manitoba went without a verbal response.

All during the question and answer session, many speakers asked the same question about the future of Canada Post in Manitoba, about good paying jobs, about strategic long term plans and about working conditions in times of uncertainty. The responses were typical of private corporations that act under a cloak of concealment. They often referred to competitors, profitability and how they were "going forward".

Canada Post Corp, you miss the point. Profitability is more than dollars and cents, it also includes social profit that comes from working and living in communities across Canada. Social profit is a grandchild getting a birthday card on their birthday - in the mailbox - addressed to them and delivered by a mail carrier (lovingly called a postie). They immediately feel a sense of belonging to their community because the person who delivered the letter is a member of their community.

The community also includes those other workers not paid by Canada Post but intricately connected to the postal system. They make or sell stationary, they print flyers, operate and work in small businesses that count on the post office.

Losing a facility in a community is an erosion of the community. Corporations do not look at those as either costs or profits.

So think about it Ms Greene and Mr Feeney. If you want to keep Canada Post profitable, remember the Canadians who you deliver to are as much a customer as those of us who buy stamps and send letters.