A letter from the Publisher, Sharon McCully
For the second time in four months, Canada Post employees are poised to strike as early as May 22, leaving The Record once again scrambling to find ways to get the daily newspaper into the hands of subscribers.
Following a month-long postal strike from Nov. 15, – Dec.17, 2024, the Industrial Inquiry Commission was tasked with examining Canada Post’s financial situation, including the company’s need to diversify its delivery models in response to current business demands; the corporation’s viability as it is currently configured; and the union’s negotiated commitments to job security and full-time employment as well as the need to protect the health and safety of employees.
The 162-page report released Friday leaves little doubt a strike is imminent, given the report’s recommendations are largely at odds with union demands. Union members were scheduled to meet with Minister of Jobs and Families, Patty Hajdu, on Friday to discuss the findings.
Recommendations in the report include phasing out door-to-door delivery in favour of community mailboxes where practicable (while maintaining daily delivery to businesses), lifting the moratorium on the closure of rural post offices, allowing Canada Post to hire part-time employees to deliver parcels on weekends and during times of high volume during the week, allowing Canada Post to assign additional work to employees if they’ve completed their daily tasks and still have work hours remaining and streamlining the process for approving postal increases.
If CUPW rejects the report outright, there could be job action as early as Thursday. However, if the union reframes its negotiating position in light of the report and talks resume, delivery could continue uninterrupted or with rotating strikes until an agreement is reached.
The Record’s shared distribution system collapsed in 2019 at the onset of the pandemic when French-language publications replaced their print editions with digital publications, forcing this newspaper to rely on the significantly more expensive and less reliable Canada Post.
Once again, in the event of strike action, The Record will expend every effort to make the paper accessible to readers who rely on it for local English news and community connection, especially seniors with limited mobility and those who may not be comfortable reading the online edition of the newspaper. Additional newspapers will be dropped at all dealers and in high-traffic areas. We will keep a supply of newspapers at our office at 6 Mallory in Lennoxville, as space allows, and we appreciate the generosity of those who take extra copies for neighbours.
The full e-edition of the newspaper is available online at www.sherbrookerecord.com and is free to all subscribers. If you haven’t already signed up, we encourage you to call the office 819-569-9528 or email billing@sherbrookerecord.com for a password. Once registered, you can download the Press Reader APP and it will appear on your computer or handheld each day without having to log in again. For technical assistance, call above number.
The Record is further thwarted in its efforts to communicate with readers by META’s social media ban. To circumvent the block, we have created an alternative Facebook page to post daily updates, so we encourage you to follow us at Sherbrooke Daily.
Finally, we welcome any suggestions readers may have to help The Record reach readers.
After 128 years of publishing through two world wars, floods, fire, equipment failures and technological change, together we will prevail.
