The country's largest public-service union says it will fight a Canada Post decision to privatize parts of its operations.
The Crown corporation announced last week it would outsource its contact centres and the National Philatelic Centre, eliminating more than 300 jobs across the country.
The 166,000-member Public Service Alliance of Canada, which has 2,000 members at Canada Post, says the move will “badly damage” the quality of Canada's postal service and the communities it serves.
Robyn Benson, PSAC's regional executive vice-president for the Prairies, warns affected areas will lose local contact with Canada Post, as well as jobs.
Affected locations include Edmonton, Ottawa, Winnipeg, Fredericton and Antigonish, N.S.
Ms. Benson says privatization of Canada Post's answering services could also compromise confidential information provided by Canadians.
And Richard Deslauriers, national president of the Union of Postal and Communications Employees, says Canada Post is moving closer to “a complete privatization.”
“The privatization of Canada Post has always been an objective of the current management and the conservative federal government,” Mr. Deslauriers said.
“The slippery slope of partial privatization of services will end up with Canada Post in the hands of private companies and Canadians will be deprived of a service they have relied on for decades.”
