Recent reports from CPC management indicate that admail and parcel volumes appear to be increasing. This is good news and Canada Post is well positioned to gain from future growth in these markets. However, it is widely accepted that, due to email and the internet, volumes of transaction lettermail will experience a slow decline.

In Canada, the post office management has responded to volume decline by reducing staffing. For instance, between 2007 and 2009, transaction mail decreased by 6.1%, while the number of paid hours in Group 1 declined by 11.92%. At the bargaining table, they have made demands to attack the wages, benefits and pensions of employees. CUPW believes there is a much better alternative.

Other Postal Administrations Innovate and Diversify

Faced with a similar slow decline in letter volumes many other postal administrations, including New Zealand, Italy, Switzerland, Brazil, the UK, and Austria have leveraged their existing networks to enter into new product lines, including banking and financial services. In fact, as of 2008, there were 44 countries in which the post office banking services comprised more than 20% of the total revenue of the post office.

CPC has the Potential

Both current CPC President Deepak Chopra and former CPC President Moya Greene have recognized the potential for CPC to expand into new services. Before a Senate Committee on April 27, 2010, Moya Greene spoke at length about the potential for postal banking. She stated:

“I note, for example, that many postal administrations have made a success of banking. …We think this trust category of services can move in the future, as many postal administrations have done, into a more traditional and generalized banking offer. We are considering that now.... It is one of the things we are looking at, but it would require a high degree of very detailed planning. ...We communicate regularly with postal companies around the world. We have seen New Zealand, where they started offering banking services in 2002, and by 2009, it was probably 30 per cent of their revenues and 70 per cent of their profit. It is possible. ...We are looking at that and at Italy, which did the same.'

CPC President Deepak Chopra has made similar statements referring to the potential for growth through leveraging the competitive advantages that CPC has due to its extensive infrastructure.

Time to Turn Rhetoric into Reality

 Attacking the wages, benefits and pensions of current and future employees is not the answer to declining volumes.  Instead it is time Canada Post makes a commitment to build a secure future on the basis of innovation and diversification of services.