Wow. So those that do not know, Canada is in a postal strike right now which is making it hard adding to the waiting game for the T3 to arrive. Worse yet, it's caught a kite or two of mine from a swap I did - and perhaps the garage sale stuff too so if your stuff is hung up I apologize. If it doesn't arrive in a timely manner once the posties are forced back to work let me know and I'll try to chase things down.

I'm torn over it too...the posties are being forced back to work by the Gov't - their wishes have not been listened to. I mean....I want my stuff and I want people to get the stuff they bought from me but at the same time these guys are forced to stick with the job despite their concerns not being addressed? In Canada things don't work that way. Even moreso when unions are involved. Alas though, the good people of Canada Post are being forced back.

Kinda seems a bit like slavery to me? I bet the fat-cat's in the office buildings at Canada Post aren't feeling like peons......

Will update the Garage Sale once things are up and running here again.

I would be afraid that forcing them back to work would be a bad move. How well do you think they will do the job after being forced back?

I know I would like my lkite that has been in a post office in Newfoundland since the day the strike started. I feel for them as well but I payed for the kite and the postage and would like to have it.

screw CP now ... DHL is offerring Biz Discounts to continue business with them.

PS. i saw the finished product of Macboy Belly on FB. sweet!!!

I'm waiting for a kite, too. I had forgotten about the strike/lock out. Now I have that anticipation and impatience and I have no idea when its going to end. My understanding is that the workers were locked out by their employer after having a revolving strike that slowed down the mail. Now nothing is moving. Ack, the wind is perfect today to try the kite that is sitting in some mail room waiting for me.

They have the luxury of being able to quit their employment and work somewhere else. So slavery doesn't fit in. Them going on strike shuts down big chunks of commerce somewhat like when the air traffic controllers went on strike here decades ago.

Lots of folks are having to cut back and do more. I feel that unions place in time is in the past and not so necessary in modern times. Let the market control the wages and working conditions. If the market lowers the going wage, then workers will find other employment and reduce the pool of workers available to do the job. A reduced pool of workers will raise the wage. At some point, it balances with workers happy to do the work for the wages and benefits paid.

Might be the case in a world with 0% unemployment...
Might just be a race to the bottom..

Anyway FWIW the union was doing rotating work stoppages to keep a basic level of service going...management lockout shut things right down.

regardless, hope things work out so we don't wait too long for new toys, or decent wind while we're wishing...

BB - totally agree on the union being a thing of the past. Especially nowadays. Every time I pull up to the pump here in oil rich Alberta I'm reminded of all the fat cats and the fat kittens running around this province. Big business makes me kinda sick.

But then again I'm pretty certain I'm a socialist. Wonder if I'd be different if I was raking in the top dog dough......

"I would be afraid that forcing them back to work would be a bad move. How well do you think they will do the job after being forced back?"

Same thing would happen here. Certain government jobs are considered "critical" and so cannot go on strike, at least not for very long before the courts order them back to work. It's happened when the police, fire department or even air traffic controllers have threatened to strike. One would hope that their sense of honor and duty would be enough motivation to continue to do their job in a professional manner (although we all know that's not always the result).

In today's economy, at least on this side of the border, I don't think many people would have a lot of sympathy for anyone who had a job and demanded more. Heck, government employees and school teachers will be lucky to keep the benefits they already have if some of the politicians have their way. Guess it's time to give the banks and oil companies $billions, that worked the last time, didn't it?

I have been at the same job for 19 years (on and off do to illness) And in that time I have received 3 pay raises. I do ask yearly but now with the ecconimy the way it is I'm glad to have work. If I was in a unoin and this happened I would be advised to go on strike, have no income (wouldn't be elegible for unemployment) and the union leaders would still be getting payed while I figured out how to pay my bills that don't stop coming an feed my family. The union leaders have it made. the workers suffer with no pay maybe a $11.00 aday strike wage and the leaders drink scotch while negotiating. I quite a good union job once for just this reason.
BB I agree with you. When Woody Guthery organized the migrant workers to form the first workers union it was neccasary (sp). Now it should be in the Smithonion. It is to be remembered but not touched.

if you don't show for work then they have effectively quit the job

no work no money

hire people who want to work

what so hard about that?

*never mind*

Day 15. And 16 days since my kite was dropped off at the post office. Now tracking info says indefanatly deleyed do to work stoppage. WOW I'm so glad to have gotten involved in this. Maybe I'll get my kite someday soon. Next time I will insist on FedEx or UPS. I try to never use US postal service and I will never again use Canada Post.

The workers have been forced back. Good for you with deliveries . Not so great for others of us bargaining for a decent wage and benefits for all Canadains.
Things should start flowing again.
:bigok:

Bad health bennefits would be good. I'm lower middle class, No health bennies for me from my work, and I earn to much for assistance and not enough to efford them on my own. ( to many pre-existing conditions) no companies will cover me at a premium I can afford. Be glad for any you have.

@rocfighter - You can thank your state government for that, states regulate health insurance. Health insurance companies only want to insure young, healthy people, otherwise their execs might not be able to afford the lavish lifestyle to which they have become accustomed to. Some states mandate that employers provide full health insurance while others don't (and everything in between). When I lived in California because I had one physical with an elevated BP I no longer qualified for medical insurance, so my name was put in a "pool" and I had to wait 2 years before my name was finally pulled and I could get basic catastrophic coverage for $2K a month. Then I moved to Hawaii and got full coverage, $15 co-pay for $75 a month, no problem with my BP. Now that I'm in North Carolina, I pay $260 a month for basic catastrophic insurance that doesn't kick in until after I've spent $20K out of pocket in a single year.

Canada, on the other hand, is one of those <sarcasm>Pinko Commie countries </sarcasm> that provides medical coverage for all citizens. Yup, in fact the US is just about the only non-third world nation on the planet that doesn't provide medical care for their citizens. Everywhere else in the world, good health is a right, here in the good ol' US of A it's a privilege that only the lucky (ie. one of those few jobs that actually includes benefits) or rich can afford. Problem is, most people believe what they watch on TV and have no idea what reality is. They think "socialized medicine" equals "communism" and communism as we all know is just a Russian word for slavery, right? Yup, while everyone here was debating whether the feds would pull the plug on the elderly to save a few bucks, the rest of the world watched (and laughed).

As for the postal system, it's on it's way out which couldn't be better news for Fedex and UPS (although I don't think the rest of us will fair as well). Most postal patrons don't get Saturday delivery anymore and lots of local offices are either on shorter hours or are closing all together. I really hope the USPS survives the next 20+ years, but it's not looking good. What would Ben Franklin say?

@ rocfighter you can thank all those dead beats that won't do anything and sponge off of society for there being nothing left for you. I see more abuse of the system by patients in one day than I see in a year by providers, but that is just one ER. I am not supposed to be able to strike either but my union is more impotent than...

I am sure no one wants to hear me rant. On the upside, I got a great session on a borrowed Neo2 11m (flash) and tridude's old crazyfly. I rode for about 90 minutes with breaks here and there (personal best). All due to the greatness of this forum

No doubt there are some who are taking advantage of the system, I'm sure we've all witnessed that, but that's the only part of the story that the health care industry wants you to know about. Where the real abuse is is at the top. Here's a small taste of what's really going on with our medical system: http://www.hulu.com/watch/213919/do-no-harm It's the story of two very courageous MD's, well worth watching.

I was a pharmaceutical rep for one of the biggest pharm companies in the world, my brother was corporate council for a major medical insurance co. and then for a major hospital. I can tell you that the pharm. companies, insurance companies, and major hospitals are all making vast amounts of money in spite of whatever abuse by patients you may have encountered. And thanks to their massive political and media clout (at all levels) very little of their abuse is ever learned by the public.

insight of the strike and the two week waiting period. if your package was stuck you can request a refund for the shipping.

however with news there is always a BUT / BAD NEWS

refunds only apply to Venture One Biz Account Holders.