. cd _plication/ lot No hope for P.O. IF YOU go down to the bombproof main Post Office on Georgia, kitty-corner to that other great Crown edifice, the CBC building, you can find yourself entering a domain where the god is Rube Goldberg, not Michael Warren or Jean-Claude Parrot. Warren tried. But Parrot wrestled him to the ground, gaining for his members the best job security provisions enjoyed by anybody in the Western world, except maybe Senators. That ‘‘no- layoff’ clause which averted a strike last. spring also meant all dreams of making the Post. Office efficient were finished. Secing the . bottom line sink back down into the darkness of the deficit, War- ren’s decision to hike the postal rates again was in- evitable from an accounting point of view. What else could he do? Well, in the real world of non-government monopoly, there IS something else he could have done — and knowing he could have done it, his workers might have made slightly less excessive demands. . And that’s bankruptcy. to declare You: and I. would ‘be ‘free to use another mailing com- pany, one of the dozens that might spring up across the land. Hey, maybe we’d even get to sign a contract with them, with a few guarantees and some penalities clearly spelled out! If the Post Office wasn’t funded by the taxpayer and shielded by Parliament, it would damn quickly go out of business. In any com- petitive situation at all, we'd get better service than we get now. The fact that I could take my business across the strect to another post office would have a dramatic effect on the attitudes of the worker drones over at the original government shop. Get them on their toes a bit. Maybe they could jump in the air like the Honda guys or something. Offer deals. Hustle. ‘Why can't I have in- surance, for instance, against losses or delays in the mail? Why can't a man- ager fire people for goofing off 18 days, with full sick pay, every year? Why does it take two weeks for even a special delivery letter to get to Seattle when private firms can deliver in hours? It was only proper for Michael Warren. to throw himself on his ~ ballpoint. Right up until last spring’s bitter little struggle with This week at council AGENDA ITEMS that-will:’) : | “OUR SERVICE |S” NORTH VAN CITY 4 be covered at) North. Shore council meetings wil! include the following topics: COUNCIL: Monday, August 12, 7:30 p.m.: Public hearing, rezonings/. building a permit/ Interlude Escort op- erator/ North Shore Waste Exchange “program/ ° noise control... amendment/- Tax exemption ‘proposals/: rezon-_ ing ‘application/ ‘street: and traffic bylaw revisions/ jocal government. . stop. lay- by/ restrictive covenant/ Expo 86 commit- tee/ Victim Assistance pro- gram/ Tempe Heights sale/ offsite parking/ proposed zoning amendment/ condi- tional rezoning application/ pro- posed .plaza and tur- naround/ B.C. Hydro office use/ local lane improvement. NORTH VANCOUVER DISTRICT COUNCIL: Monday, August 12, 7:15 p.m.: Preschool licence ap- infill/ Seymour bus route/ lower Capilano study/ Ottawa youth grant/ Seycove management contract/ B.C. Hydro right-of-way/ attack warning signs/ Panorama Deep Cove park/ flag pole move/ zoning applications/ sidewalk request/ equipment replacements/ night bridge work/ boulevard ad sign. liability/ bus’ ‘fj building permit/ § #€ VALU COUPON reg. price $1.20 with this coupon Coupon expires Aug. 17, 1985 While Quantities Last r i 1 t i i t i] i] ! i i] t [ i] i] i] i t ~Hi, my name is Connie and | am "proud to be a decorator in the * Bakery Department of Super Valu Park Royal. If you need help with a design for a special occasion, just ask and I'll be able to assist you. > Sup = in ae INDEPENDENT GROCER those 18 unions representing 66,000 workers, Warren was passing the message to the business community that not to worry, the corporation would be operating in the black by 1984. Back then, Vancouver Post Office spokesman Wayne Sterloff assured me that Warren was doing such a terrific job that our mail system was in the middle of “the biggest corporate tur- naround in North America." A fat hope that turned out to be. The original decision to boost postage,intended in part to give Warren room to Mmanoeuver in the essential task of repairing the decay- ing mail system, failed quite utterly. Service has gotten worse as costs rose. The root problem of low productivity, instead of being addressed, has been enshrined. This means the structural rot at the heart of the system has become permanent. Instead of going to the mat with the unions, as he should have done, Warren reached out like Zeus and zapped the country twice “DO IT YOURSELF” HAVE ir DONE Beautiful © Interlocking — Pavers | with fee hikes. It was easier to sting the rest of us than fight the Posties. Hell, picket line duty would be a waltz for them, Warren's other major strategy was to muscle in on private sector merchandise sales and other non-mail Services like the flyer distribution business, an im- portant source of revenue for community newspapers. So nobody here in this cor- ner of the media is going to greatly mourn his passing. The main flaw all along was the weird notion that business sense could be ap- plied to a Crown monopoly that can be routinely held to ransom. Lester Pearson's most idiotic move, by the way, was granting the right to strike to civil servants. Hf that can't be: undone, civil servants having become such a powerful political bloc, the next best thing is to dismantle the structure around them. As Michael Warren has obviously learned, there is no ‘‘cure’’ for the Post Of- fice. The Post Office is the problem. It is locked up in Jean-Claude Parrot’s fist. Everyone's half-asleep at the switch. There is just no way to dynamite them into ac- tion, except to dynamite the whole thing, keeping in mind that the granite walls of that fortress on Georgia were built to resist conventional bomb attacks. Whether it can resist a po- and Exposed Aggregate mn CONCRETE PAVERS Aiso stepping stones, planters, curbs, bicycle : stands SANDERSON CONCRETE PRODUCTS LTD. B | 310 Harbour Ave. North Vancouver OF THE YEAR OVEN FRESH FREN CH BREAD Photo by DENISE MOULDEY Gwe eee Cail us: 985-6108 PARK ROYAL 798 VALU COUPON ' i ' i] i i i] i i] i] di litical bomb is another ques- tion. Deregulate the mail! Hearing Problems? . Call us at 875-O277 Pacific Hearing Clinic 514-2525 Willow St at Broadway Hours: 9-7 Mon-Sat Neil Walton MSc. Audiologist Harold Janzen MSc, Audiologist. UP TO 50% OFF ' (QUT! At up to half-price! ( >: J i! ” B. ") The fixtures! The .. desk lamps! the ’ Go thie swag lamps! The table lamps! - lampshades! The <> floor lamps! Every light we don’t want hanging around. all summer at Lighting Unlimited is going out, right now! At 20%; 30%, 40%, up to’ 50% off the . prices: they sold for before! THE UPTO-HALF-PRICE SALE AT LIGHTING UNLIMITED : THE EXPERTS IN HOME LIGHTING “SALE ENDS AUG. 17 th LANSDOWNE PAR MALL |. “270-2118 - PARK ROYAL SOUTH. ‘925-1511 ee Mr Bani-Sadr president of Mountview Motors is ‘pleased to announce the appointment of B.S. (Red) McCansh - to the position of Lease & Fieet Manager. Mr, McCansh brings with him several years of experience in the auto industry and offers expert service to his * many clients and friends. He invites all of you to contact him for all your automotive needs. At Mountview Motors we feature all make lease and fleet services. Mountview Motors 1600 Marine Dr. [ZB AMCiJeep| 980-3431 North Vancouver ["s RENAULT | -pager. 735-6259 Kill the Post Office, I say.