Postal labour dispute is not the best way
It is distressing to witness the ongoing sa国际传媒 Post dispute between employer and employees. There simply has to be a better way!
On the surface it appears both sides experience and feel the pain and inconvenience. In an ideal world of give and take we can assume the suffering of both parties would result in a compromised settlement.
The timing of strikes understandably affords one or both parties certain advantages and this seems reasonable. However, the dispute often impacts individuals and society who have no weapons at their disposal to incentivize the parties to settle their dispute.
Now, it is no longer a level playing field. This becomes even more so when the impact affects charities in often profound ways.
As a society, I believe we can do better than this and we must.
Tony Southwell
Saanich
Striking their way into irrelevance
I fear that the ongoing efforts by sa国际传媒 Post employees to improve their working conditions may ultimately backfire.
It seems that, in their quest for better terms, they are inadvertently striking themselves into irrelevance.
Over the past month, nearly every supplier I work with has moved from mailed invoices to electronic ones.
Similarly, most clients who used to pay by cheque have switched to more efficient methods like EFT or Interac. As the strike continues, small businesses are becoming less reliant on sa国际传媒 Post’s services, which may have lasting consequences.
While package delivery will always have its place, traditional mail — especially for bills and payments — appears to be on a fast track to obsolescence.
I wouldn’t be surprised if, once the strike concludes, the volume of regular mail is dramatically reduced. Not much job security in that!
Steve Hutchinson
Victoria
Proper funding makes a better post office
In our Canadian economy there are many people, including prominent politicians, who think our government should be run like a business. Government basically is a service or a group of services provided to its citizens and immigrants and visitors through taxes and fees.
Our postal system is a service. It is not supposed to make money like a business.
A properly funded post office is the most cost-effective, therefore public service.
Strikes are a Canadian right for any worker with a contract and they only occur when the employer is squeezing the employees by not following the contract or by ignoring it.
John Evans
Brentwood Bay
The world has changed, so must sa国际传媒 Post
We need sa国际传媒 Post, as rural sa国际传媒 and small business require it.
Most critical business is done by email, edocuments, etransfer or courier.
Very little mail, other than bulk mail, is delivered to our homes.
As sa国际传媒 Post is running a deficit of millions of dollars, the service model must change.
As we do not get timely delivery now, change delivery to three times a week to reduce costs.
This will require a substantial reduction in delivery staff and perhaps a reduction in sorting staff.
As timely parcel delivery is the future, a flexible model that includes weekends and extended hours is needed to match the competition.
We cannot afford significant pay increases, but the service may be maintained if it can adapt to current conditions.
If someone does not believe the world changes, try to get a job as a buggy whip maker or at Studebaker.
G.J. Bunyan
North Saanich
Use technology to find dementia patients
The technology exists to prevent tragedies such as what happened to Christian Dube. It would save so much angst, panic, grief and even loss of life if we could simply AirTag dementia patients.
This technology is designed to find things that are lost and would result in much better outcomes than the ones we read about in the news.
Richard Smith
Saanichton
Fate of Philippine Mars is a sad state of affairs
It is, indeed, one the saddest sights I have seen: This majestic Canadian icon painted in the United States colours and sporting the U.S. military insignia.
It should never have been allowed to happen. It was bad enough to sell it to the Americans, but to change it to their colours and insignia as it if was their iconic plane and meant something to them is farcical!
They will lay claim to it and give absolutely no credit to Canadians or the Canadian company which made it what is today.
It should have been bought and preserved by either the federal or provincial government. A sad state of affairs.
Linda Bradatsch
Duncan
Those LED headlights don’t help other people
I am an older (age 65) person, living in downtown Victoria, still working full-time, still doing what I can to stay fit and healthy.
At this point in my life, my exercise is a long walk through our gorgeous Inner Harbour, around James Bay and along the Dallas Road waterfront.
When the days are short, as they are now, most of my walk is in the dark, before sunrise or after sunset. I keep to our well-lit sidewalks and paths, and I never feel unsafe.
However, this morning, as I was walking along the water, a person approached me, wielding an enormous flashlight.
The person directed that flashlight into my face, right in front of me, right at eye level. This felt like an assault. I had to turn away and shield my eyes.
Once the person was past me, I could see again and carry on, but I was shaken.
Except it wasn’t a person with a flashlight, and it wasn’t just this morning. It was a runner wearing a searingly bright LED headlamp, and this happens daily. I no longer drive due to LED headlights. Now I fear losing my walk.
To the runners and walkers who feel compelled to sport auxiliary lighting, please consider the rest of us. I understand that most LED headlamps are dimmable.
Please be courteous as you approach someone like me, someone who is out walking for her daily dose of contentment and health — who is out walking, really, for her life. Please turn off or dim your headlamp as you approach.
Sharon McCartney
Victoria
Don’t just give advice, Eby, lead by example
I had to laugh at the blatant hypocrisy displayed by Premier David Eby in advising sa国际传媒 Ferries to cut administration and operating costs to minimize future fare increases.
Eby is presiding over one of the largest deficits in sa国际传媒’s history and spending like there is no tomorrow.
His first act after getting narrowly elected was to award his cabinet big salary increases and defer the next legislature sitting until February.
One of the basic principles of good management is to “lead by example.”
Graham Williams
North Saanich
Lower speed limits don’t make any sense
I am astounded with the idea of lower speed limits in Victoria.
First of all, most vehicles barely move at 30 km/h.
Next, most people will not follow this. This will aggravate most drivers.
Then, most police will not enforce this as they have more important things to do like assaults, robbery and violence.
This a recipe for disaster. What are politicians thinking?
What an asinine policy. Hate to say it, but how totally stupid are the people who decide this?
Ken Alan
Victoria
Democracy we need, democracy we don’t
Re: “Capitalism, democracy are arch enemies,” letter, Dec. 4.
This tired old lie again, responsible for the premature and violent deaths of tens of millions.
The democracy we need and cherish is the option to vote, periodically, to select who shall govern us for the next few years (including enforcing environmental protection).
The democracy we don’t need is within families, within schools, within courts of justice, within any collection of people to vote yes or no on every little action by every party on every occasion that may impact their life in any way.
Eugene Neufeld
Saanich
Best thing for everyone? A pardon for Trump
Wow, when was the last time you heard the term Trump Derangement Syndrome from other than the echo box ditto heads at Fox News?
It must be obvious to all that Donald Trump, the malignant narcissist, has surrounded himself with other egomaniacal, paranoid and delusional willing lap dogs hell-bent on remaking the world in their own image and shifting the gaze away from the liar in chief.
Trump said he would empty the swamp, in reality many of his staff belly-flopped on national TV.
Hey Joe Biden, pardon Trump. If he accepts, it will cement his legacy as a philandering, twice-impeached, insurrectionist, pardoned convicted felon president.
Surely a new low for the blight wing and their hypocritical ‘family values’ mantra!
Grant Maxwell
Nanaimo
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