Really......a billion a year loss? Why do you think they're in such bad shape? The union? How's the US postal service doing financially?
"The real beef is that CP is losing $1 billion a year."
Not quite. That one billion loss is a projection of what could happen by 2020:
A dramatically dwindling volume of conventional mail will push Canada Post to an annual operating loss of about $1-billion by 2020, according to a Conference Board of Canada forecast.
In a report titled The Future of Postal Service in Canada, published Tuesday, the think tank estimates that Canada Post’s transaction mail, addressed and unaddressed advertising mail and publication volumes will decline by 26 to 27 per cent by 2020.
The federal Crown corporation faces a series of challenges, most obviously the rise of the digital age, but there is no single change to prices or service standards – such as alternate-day delivery – that will be enough to ensure self-sustainability, says the report.
“Canadians recognize that the way they use mail is changing, but haven’t yet fully understood how severely that is affecting Canada Post’s business model,” said Conference Board vice-president of public policy David Stewart-Patterson.
“E-commerce is boosting demand for parcel delivery, but households are sending fewer letters, businesses are encouraging electronic bills, governments are moving to direct deposit, and advertising is moving to the Internet. Canadians must consider what kind of postal service they really need in the years ahead.”
"Time to shut it down and sell it's assets."
Easier said than done. If you "shut it down" as you suggest, who will deliver your mail? my mail? everyone's mail?
"sell its assets" - to whom? Who would want to buy assets that are not producing a profit?
You're in the grove Pierre...........how is the US postal service doing financially?.....or are they viable just because of the population of the USA?
USPS has a five year plan to return to profitability:
http://about.usps.com/news/national-releases/2012/pr12_0217profitability.pdf
However, I doubt very much they will achieve their goal.
The problems in the USA are very similar to problems in Canada despite the fact their unionized workforce seems to be more cooperative with their employer than the Canadian posties. The cost of their pension plan is killing them as it is hurting Canada Post.
Overall volume of mail is declining and will continue to decline on both sides of the border.
US Congress recently refused to allow USPS to drop Saturday mail delivery. That would have helped reduce some costs.
Many businesses face similar challenges: declining market for their product and service. Unfortunately both USPS and Canada Post - perceived as public service organizations - do not have the luxury to be able to reduce the level of staffing and service to accomodate a lower level of economic activity. Elected politicians will not allow them.
In their last labour contract, USPS workers gave in a bit to avoid a strike. In Canada we had work stoppage that did not prove nor solve anything.
Suggestions to keep paying the postal staff to do other things such as go into banking or whatever miss an important point: whatever manhours are spent in banking will results in thousands of bank employees laid off. Nobody wins.
There is no easy solution but to have both organizations be able to adjust their labour force and labour costs to the market they serve now and in the future.
Also, one cannot expect Canada Post or USPS to compete in parcel delivery unless their labour costs (including pension costs) are relatively competitive with their competitors (Fed-Ex, UPS, DHL, etc...).
The alternative is to continue racking up losses that will eventually be paid by taxpayers through higher taxes.
Do we want to live in a society where taxpayers subsidize some enterprises at the expenses of others? I do not know about you but I do not.
And yes, they do that in China. Do we want to live like the Chinese?
"They have banks right in the postal retail shops,"
That is going away. That is the old way of doing business.
Look what they did in New Zealand
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealand_Post_Office
Japan, where a large number of Japanese keep their savings, is also facing privatization - basically split banking and postal operations.
"I was wondering who Pitney Bowes was"
Pitney Bowes is a large American public company with a market capitalization of almost US$3 billion dollars.
"Business Summary
Pitney Bowes Inc. provides software, hardware, and services to enable physical and digital communications in the United States and internationally. It also offers a suite of equipment, supplies, software, services, and solutions for managing and integrating physical and digital communication channels. The company’s Small & Medium Business Solutions segment engages in the sale, rental, and financing of mail finishing, mail creation, and shipping equipment and software; provision of supply, support, and other professional services; and provision of payment solutions. Its Enterprise Business Solutions segment sells, supports, and offers other professional services of high-speed, production mail systems, and sorting and production print equipment; and sells support services for non-equipment-based mailing, customer relationship and communication, and location intelligence software. This segment also provides facilities management services; secure mail services; reprographic and document management services; print outsourcing services; and litigation support and eDiscovery services, as well as offers presort mail services and cross-border ecommerce services; and direct marketing services. Pitney Bowes Inc. markets its products through its sales force, direct mailings, outbound telemarketing, independent distributors, and the Internet to various business, governmental, institutional, and other organizations. The company was formerly known as Pitney Bowes Postage Meter Company. Pitney Bowes Inc. was founded in 1920 and is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut."
Since 2006, Pitney Bowes has a contract with eBay. PayPal and Canada Post to administer the sale and delivery of online postage purchased from Canada Post, through eBay and paid through PayPal.
http://www.canadapost.ca/cpo/mc/aboutus/news/pr/2006/2006_feb_news_ebay.jsf
In the USA, Pitney Bowes id the provider of service behind eBay's Global Shipping Program
