Conference kaosws::canada

    Yeah, I heard that there were lines of pea sacks at the borders that
    were making truckers drop their loads. In the LA Times, The head of the
    Pea Sacks was quoted as saying that things were going very well,
    because the Chrysler in Windsor was shut down. Some one from the
    Treasury Department was quoted as saying that it was really great,
    because government expenditures were reduced by tens of millions of
    dollars per day. Sounds like a win-win situation. Good government in
    action. 
    
    Unfortunately, the Los Angeles Times failed to mention the impact of
    the Pea Sacks on the Grand Canal. Tell me, what is it?
    

    They plug the drains.
    
    Scooter

    A post office worker here in Geneva told my wife that she should not sent
    her mail to Canada these days becuase there is a mail strike going on. The
    employee went on to tell my wife that the mail that Canada Post does receive
    is simply thrown into the river and is never ever delivered!?!
    
    My in-laws then told us that there was some mail bags found in the St.
    Lawrence River.
    
    I guess I'll hold on to that birthday rpesent and send as a belated
    present.
    
    :-)
    Alan Atkinson

    The postal workers (who incidentally are no longer public servants but
    employees of the Canada Post crown corporation) are now back on the
    job while awaiting contract mediation.  The mail is moving and
    reliably.  I hadn't heard about the bags in the St. Lawrence, but
    these kind of things do seem to happen from time to time with most
    postal services, and Canada Post is no exception.  On the other hand
    it is likely an isolated incident, and it certainly wouldn't stop
    me from mailing anything now.
    
    Stuart

    As a matter of fact, two days ago I received a letter from Dublin which
    was post-marked 26 August.  Also, yesterday I received a parcel from
    the US post-marked 22 August.  So, the mail is moving.

    As early as last Sunday night, I was listening to Air Traffic Control
    chatter, and they were slowing everything down to minimums anywhere
    near Toronto.  That was probably a result of the "work to rules"
    action.
    
    Cheers...Gary

    One of the things I cannot understand is that they say customs officers
    are working to rule, interrgating people with more veracity than usual
    (sheeesh ... I thought they over did it normally!), and making more
    inspections.  This only cheeses off Joe Public and rakes in more
    revenue for the govmnt ... The government wins and the public won't
    support the job action.   Surely what they should be doing is doing
    the bare MINIMUM of checking thus not raking in dollars and making
    Joe Public HAPPY with them!
    
    Stuart

    There were about 20 bags of mail found in Lake Ontario in around the
    Cherry Beech area of Toronto, at the height of the postal strike. All
    the mail was inbound from the US.
    
    Scooter

    Haven't you people realized that floating the mail down the river
    is just another of Canada Post's schemes to cut costs.
    This is how it works.Overseas mail destined for Canada is dumped
     into the river at Point au Piq , Quebec, which is a coastal
    Quebec community. The mail is in large waterproof bags emblazened
    with fluorescent orange destination city markings.
    
     Then, at different communities/cities along the waterway right
    through to the Great Lakes and Toronto, stands a team of Postal
    employees wielding 12ft. poles with hooks.
    Simple, huh!
     The mail floats down the St.Lawrence and is snagged according
    to its' destination.
    
     I understand Canada Post is now working on a scheme to reverse
    the flow of water through the waterway temporarily so as to
    send mail the other way.
    

    Now we have a need for the Grand Canal !
    

    Re: .7 
    
    In fact what is happening at the border crossing is that the employees
    are working to rule primarily against commercial traffic (i.e. trucks).
    The stated objective being to anger the business community and
    therefore get action of some sort that way (since they believe that big 
    business actually calls the shots in Ottawa).
    
    The last time PSAC had a job action (1989?) we crossed the border a couple
    times. At that point work to rule meant that they asked a specified set of
    questions only and were doing no searches. I don't know if this is the 
    case this time around.  

    I heard that this time they are doing lots more searches and lots
    more questions ...  Whether 'tis true or not, I don't know.

    If you thought that the postal service and the civil servants are bad;
    You should see the mess that the TTC employees are creating here in 
    Toronto. 
    
    Most of the downtown core is crippled. Most of the people that commute
    their way around Toronto, are thumbing it today. No subway, no
    streetcars, no bus service. The cabbies and GO Transit are having a
    ball. 
    
    For me personally it took about 1 1/2 hours to get to work today.
    Normally it takes about 1/2 hour. That's not too bad though. I've heard
    of people in this office (TRO), having to take 3 hours to venture
    through the traffic jammed streets of Toronto. 
    
    It sounds a little like Britain a couple of years ago, where everyone
    was on strike. Who's next?????
    

    Somebody said the watchphrase in Toronto today was
    
    "You CANNOT get THERE from HERE!"

    Re. .9

    That's Canada post for you, always going against the flow. Are the bags
    equipped with little propellers to help them go upstream like that?

    ;-)