WHITBY FREE PRESS, WEDNESDAY, JULY 8,1987, PAGE 7 PAGE SEVEN THE POST OFFICE: A wider perspective The Post Office and the letter carriers union settled their dif- førences last Saturday and for a few weeks at least (until the inside workers get their kick at the can), the mail will be delivered in its usual erratic manner. Who won? Both the Post Office and the union will tell us that they got most of what they wanted. The rest of us lost. One of the flaws of our collective bargaining system is that only the worke's and management are involved in the negotiations. John Q. Public, who is increasingly a pawn in such struggles and who ultimately will pay the bills, is not consulted. It is a truism in this country that the postal service stinks, and under the circumstances, the spectacle of the letter carriers demanding a continuation of work practises which at best could be considered inefficient, or of management demanding higher postal rates, is laughable...except that we have to pay the bills. Why aren't we consulted? The birth of the labor union movement in the latter part of the last century was aimed at wealthy capitalists who made their millions on the sweat and blood of their exploited workers. Workers banded together in unions and invented the strike to hit at their bosses' means of making money. Gradually they squeezed out bet- ter wages and working conditions. As long as the conflicts were confined.to the employees and their bosses the system worked. But in the last thirty years, as govern- nments have become bigger and more involved in every aspect of our lives, the general public is increasingly drawn into the fray as leverage for both sides. No. longer do labor and management restrict their pitch to each other; now they both take out full page advertisements to explain their side of the story. John Q. Publie is front row centre in the dispute - he will ultimately pay the price whichever side wins - yet his rights and aspirations are not part of the negotiations. There are two classes of workers in North America today: those who work for governments or 6ther rich and mighty corporations and those who work for or are part of a small business. The former have been able to win high wages, security and good working con- ditions because their employers are in the enviable position of being able to pass the extra costs on to their customers without much concern about weak, non-existent or "co-operative" com- petition. Small businesses, on the other hand, live not only with the problem of tight competition but they also have to pay the higher postal rates to subsidize the letter carriers, high prices for their cars to pay the fat wages of the auto workers, and high taxes to pay for ever high salaries for police, firemen, teachers, garbage collec- tors and other civil servants. I run a small business - this newspaper. My employees earn half as much as the above workers and work twice as hard as most of them. I would love to be paying them more -. they deserve it - but since I'm already paying the high wages for the postal workers, the auto workers and the government employees, I can't pay higher wages without losing my competitive edge. Since I can't pay it to my own staff, how come I'm paying fat wages to all the fat cat cor- poration and government employees yet nobody consulted me? Every consumer and taxpayer is in the same position. You're paying for these settlements - yet nobody is asking for your input. So what,input would Joe Consumer offer to the Post Office? I think the opinion polls are quite clear. The public would demand an efficient, on-time, cost-effective operation and consider wage and rate increases. The general public, if consulted, certainly would not condone practises of paying workers for doing nothing - we didn't earn our wages ot have someone else fritter them away. My staff would love to have some of the percs that the postal workers have. Governments (at all levels) who are supposed to be representing our interests have always found it easier to give in to the special in- terests of individual groups of workers than to protect the longterm interests of the majority. Workers will always want more money and better working con- ditions (which also cost money), but there is a limit to what the economy can absorb. For every worker who is earning $20 per hour, there has to be another earning only $5 unless the overall productivity increases. It is ironic that unions usually oppose new technologies which would improve productivity. Settlements are a saw-off between the demands 'of the workers and the ability of management to pass the increased costs to the consumer. We get screwed every time. Small business is the lifeblood of the Canadian economy - it em- ploys most of the workforce and creates the vast majority of new jobs. It is high time that governments recognized this and stopped hamstringing them with higher and higher costs for less and less service. We need governments with the will to brmg wages in the small and large business sectors more in line with each other, to make wages representative of productivity. We need governments with the will to represent the people who elected them rather than knuckle under to tbe narrow self-serving interests of those who want ever higher wages. We need governmenlts willing to make hard-nosed business decisions rather than take the easy way out. We need governments who can think farther ahead than the extent of their current term. Right now we need a government who will make the Post Office work. Governments, big business and unions will tell you that the collective bargaining system works...for them that is. For tbe rest of us it is an abysmal and expensive disaster - a system which single-handedly is responsible for inflation, huge government deficits, and the non-competitiveness of our products abroad. In the meantime, the rich workers get richer and the rest of us keep struggling along paying their bills. IL 1 raee il E , C^/5O/)E TR?/P5, A/O /IVEED 7 B(CKL E UP Timne A CONTEST FOR SUMMER STROLLERS AND SUNDAY DRIVERS Sponsored hy Whitby's LACAC* to encourage an awareness of our local architectural herita&e Each week though the summer, the Whitby Free Press will publish a picture of an architectural detail of a building somewhere in Whitby. A draw will be made from all the correct entries received by the following Tuesday morning at 10:00 a.m. for a copy of Ghost Towns of Ontario, Part Il. The correct answer along with a picture and description of the building in question will be published in the next issue along with a new mystery detail. Al entries will be entered into a grand prize draw on Sept. 26, 1987 LACAC If you can ideitify this picture, submit en- try below to the Whitby Free Press, 131 Brock St. N., Whitby, L1N 5S1. Winner will be selected next Tuesday at 10:00 am. . Since its inception in 1978, the Town of Whitby LACAC has worked to encourage the preser- vation of historical structures throughout the community fron Port Whitby in the south to Ashburn and Myrtle in the north. LACAC is a commit- tee of volunteers selec- ted by Town Council to advise them on matters relating to architectural preservation. On their recommendation, 23 buildings have been desinated by Town Council for protection under the Ontario Heritage Act. They are committed to heightening public awareness of the rich heritage of the Whitby area. Enjoy the contest. LOCATION Name Addre e'5-8 Phone No. *LOCAL ARCHITECTURAL CONSERVANCY ADVISORY COMMITTEE UN au 1