Thank you Postal Union for destroying my business

[mdf_jersey]

I dont know how its going for you, but Im listening to Crickets. Every year at this time I am super busy , if not for only 2 to  3 weeks. But this year , it's almost costing me more to list than what I make.

I hope all you Postal workers have a great Christmas

Once again, WHERE IS EBAY!! Another example of Ebays commitment to its sellers. I give kudos to them for being one of the instruments in getting the government to order the postal union back to work. but what about the damage done. I sell a lot to the USA as I am sure many do. The buyers in the USA as far as they are concerned are not buying from Canada because they are aware of the shipping  issues. Why hasn't Ebay put out the message that the strike is over and items shipped to the USA is not affected , or very little. Its  what comes into Canada that is the problem. Better yet where is some Advertising to shop Ebay. Every year the same thing , lack of Advertising from Ebay . Take the hint from the organizations that will soon bury Ebay, like Amazon, wayfair, and others . They advertise. 

Rant Done... Merry Christmas

[mdf_jersey]

To be quite honest I don't care which side is to blame. What I do know is that the CUPW knew what effects would take place if they start strike proceeding at this time. They were looking to make the biggest splash possible, regardless who is effected. This **bleep** for tat the Union and employees play with each other only affects people.

I can only speak for myself, but due to lousy sales, I am going to be cutting back. I usually help out some charities and give to the SPCA , but this year that will be greatly reduced as will christmas shopping.

In short, this causes not only a reduction in revenue for many small online businesses, but also causes a trickle down effect. There must be 10,s of thousands of small business that are mainly online business, that were affected.

CUPW could have selected a better time, but they couldn't care less as most unions do.

[momcqueen]

"Public sector wages and salaries (not to mention working conditions and benefits) tend to set the bar for those offered in the private sector.  The average Canadian has lost a lot of buying power in the past couple of decades, largely due, I think, to lower wage and salary adjustments being negotiated in the public sector."

Please cite the sources to which you are referring. What public sector wages are seeing rollbacks? What leads you to believe the 'average' Canadian has 'lost a lot of buying power'? On what terms do you define 'average' and who is your source on the 'buying power' of that average Canadian?

[Anonymous]

Fire that union who turns it down!!

[muscoviteman]

Average mail carrier wage $20.72 per hour.

Not lucrative considering minimum wage in Ontario is $14.00 and was to go tp $15.00.

https://www.payscale.com/research/CA/Job=Postal_Service_Mail_Carrier/Hourly_Rate/ebffa8b0/Canada-Pos...

[momcqueen]

Would you care to hazard a guess as to the average hourly wage of an ebay seller?

[forester_studios]

Less than minimum would be my guess. I would LOVE to make $20 an hour. It's interesting to note that if you look at listings the union cheer leaders posting have on ebay it is little or none at all. If they think they are helping their cause by preaching their rhetoric at an angry sellers audience it says a lot about their mentality.

They show no sympathy for us. Some sellers could be homeless because of this but they couldn't care less. It's all about them.

[tobey_arih]

Quite right.  Oh what is that Rate table (beta) **bleep** ebay just dished out?  Like I'm going try that rat trap.  What ebay should be doing is figuring how to lower the FVFs to stimulate both sides, seller and buyers.  But no, greedy as ever and blinded by it.  

BTW - I can't stand the "seller hub" page.  What is the point?  Everytime cI lick on it the dropdown list, I get greeted with it.

[kh-leslie]

Hello everyone,

This thread is getting a bit heated.  Please remember that it’s fine to disagree with others, but discussion should always remain courteous and respectful.

Thank you for your cooperation.

[marnotom!]

---

@momcqueen wrote:

I don’t see anyone comparable to Henry Ford here. If you do, please introduce us.

---

I didn't say there was anyone comparable to Henry Ford in terms of wealth, but if you're thinking along the lines of ownership, we do own Canada Post Corporation.  And, like Ford, many eBay sellers are entrepreneurs who rely on work done by others working for and with them.

[marnotom!]

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@momcqueen wrote:

"Public sector wages and salaries (not to mention working conditions and benefits) tend to set the bar for those offered in the private sector.  The average Canadian has lost a lot of buying power in the past couple of decades, largely due, I think, to lower wage and salary adjustments being negotiated in the public sector."

Please cite the sources to which you are referring. What public sector wages are seeing rollbacks? What leads you to believe the 'average' Canadian has 'lost a lot of buying power'? On what terms do you define 'average' and who is your source on the 'buying power' of that average Canadian?

---

Public sector wages aren't seeing rollbacks.  But they're not seeing crazy increases, either.  According to a CUPE report, there is less disparity in pay between lower-paid workers and higher-paid workers in the public sector than in the private sector.

https://cupe.ca/battle-wages-who-gets-paid-more-public-or-private-sector-workers

Real wages are either stagnant or falling, depending on who you read and how far back in time you want to go.  Whatever the case is, though, Canadians' personal debt loads continue to increase.

https://globalnews.ca/news/3531614/average-hourly-wage-canada-stagnant/

https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2017/07/11/canadians-real-wages-are-shrinking-is-that-why-were-falling...

I've also played around a bit with StatsCan's Consumer Price Index reports.  The average price of a can of beans has gone up about 50% and the average price of toilet paper and potatoes has almost tripled since January 1995.  I know that my earnings haven't gone up anything like that in the past 23 years.

https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=1810000201

[melissasminis]

Personally, I think getting paid $20-$25/h to move mail around is pretty good. Now, getting paid $15-$20/h to lug around 100-300 lbs of walls, doors, materials most of the day, building structures, digging basement systems, working outside in the high heat as well as icy snow while on the side of a building is low wages. Don't forget about construction people etc, who in the end don't have any labor rights such as the post office does. Welcome to Nova Scotia!

[lachnrd]

Well they don’t appear to be a seller so just here to argue I guess.

[jt-libra]

Like many other sellers, my sales have stopped .... not slowed down, but stopped.  So not only am I not going to have the extra money I usually make from Christmas sales to offset my own Xmas expenses, I have outlaid a lot of money on inventory which I can only hope to sell in January.  But, by not spending the usual amount of time listing these items, I have been able to enjoy a few small pleasures, like going for a walk or watching a movie without a device on my lap.

Having said that, however, as long as unions are legal, so is the right to strike.  And if a strike didn't inconvenience anyone, unions would be so ineffective as to be worthless.  I am not in a union but I'm sure that every one of us has a family member or friend who is.  They may not want to strike but, as long as they are a union member .... usually they have no choice depending on their occupation ... they will be forced to if the vote dictates.

I can't make the case for postal employees since I don't have the necessary knowledge of their situation, but I do know, from talking to a few of them, that they are hurting too.  They have families and expenses the same as the rest of us.  Some never wanted to go on strike; others were reluctant but since they were unable to achieve the wage and benefits they were seeking in previous contracts, they felt they had no choice.

I guess the reason I feel so strongly about this, at this point in time, is because I just had several parcels delivered at 6:30 tonight by a postal employee who was not young, who looked very tired, and who seemed very apprehensive about the reception he would get.  He was still smiling, however, and I felt sorry for him.

[zee-chan]

I can’t way I’m 100% pro-union but I do feel that it’s an important part of our society. While CUPW could’ve done better, I don’t think it’s fair to start hating all unions just because people’s small businesses have been affected. I do have a profession that’s protected by a union and I’m thankful for the benefits and protection it offers. Because of it I’m able to feel confident to speak up against unfair treatment (either from my “customers” or management), knowing that I won’t face major penalty from it. I don’t ever want to strike because I think my working condition is fair at the moment, so please do keep in mind that in most cases, members of the union don’t want to strike and I’m sure most postal workers didn’t want to strike either.

I’m sorry that many of you at suffering financially, but I think it’s important for one to choose their method of securing income carefully and always have plan B. Being in a business always carries a risk. If the lost of Canada Post service can put you out of business, then perhaps you needed a better plan B before you started your business.

My profession right now isn’t my dream job but I know it’ll provide me with financial security, and even if for whatever reason I were to be unable to work for the near future due to illness or work injury and such (my profession has a higher injury rate than police apparently), I know I have enough savings so I won’t be stressed out. I do have a plan B in place and it’s not online selling. 

Someone mentioned that not many people ar speaking up for a union, so here I’m speaking up my view. I didn’t want to add oil to the heated anti-union debate but only wanted to chip in my two cents. I also do not agree with privatizing Canada Post as I do believe it will bring our mailing cost higher with even poorer accessibility, due to our large land mass and low population in terms of density. Similarily I don’t think our health care or transportation should be privatized. 

I do actually feel sorry for the posties who actually have to deal with the huge backlog and cranky customers, when it wasn’t them who created the main problem. Kinda like when I have to take it from unreasonable “customers” when it’s not me who’s decided what the policies are (and well, policies existed for a reason).

[cumos55]

This business  of selling has changed dramatically over the last 10 years.  The focus has been small business, and selling on-line.    These businesses use Canada Post, almost exclusively.

The world of selling has changed most dramatically because of the internet.

The businesses include members of the Canadian Federation of Independent  Business, those that sell on eBay and other major selling sites online,  and then small businesses  each with their own website.   These businesses have become most successful.

The effect of this strike  and the month after the end of the strike, and the fact that everything  occurred during the period just before Christmas,  was totally unexpected.... 

The dollar value to the Canadian economy could be as high as $400,000,000 and maybe higher up to $500,000,000.    These are the people that pay Canada Post  to have parcels delivered,  and then Canada Post uses this money to pay its workers.

Then the members of the Postal Union were not given the option to vote to end the strike,  and each receive $1000.... That is a total of about $50,000,000 the postal workers  never had an option to receive.

The postal workers in the US... those that work for the US Postal Service are legally NOT allowed to go on strike....   

A postal strike such as the one just experience in Canada should never occur again....    The monetary effect on small business,  and the Postal workers  was totally unexpected... especially during this pre-Christmas period.

The best thing that the Government of Canada could do, is to follow the principle expressed in the US, and introduce legislation that prevents the union from ever going on strike again.

The Postal Union must learn how to work with Canada Post  and the Government of Canada must allow Canada Post to make major adjustments.

Canada Post  is caught between  the Government  and the Union, and is regulated and controlled in such a manner it cannot make major adjustments that would benefit the postal service  in Canada....  The Government must make major adjustments.  The Government is in control.

Small businesses must be protected, and must never experience  such a strike ever again.