Thanks to the Arctic weather, that was another tough January for the morning commute.
Freezing temperatures across the country even made it tough to get your mail. Canada Post is investigating 10 letter carriers from Gatineau, Que., who abandoned their routes when temperatures dropped to –40 Celsius. Canada Post said 20,000 other workers stayed on the job, even in colder places. Torontonians were grateful it happened in Quebec — if Toronto workers did this there’d be a lot of comments about a city of “wimps.” Come on, admit it.
Postal workers defended themselves by saying mittens are clunky for letter sorting, and you end up taking them off. Besides, all that stuff about “through sleet and snow” is an American motto, and they have their mittens sewn on to their jackets so they won’t lose them, which is not the case under the current Canada Post collective agreement.
None of this impresses Noah Tiktak of Rankin Inlet, Nunavut, whose outdoor job really got to be too much, even by Inuit standards. With temperatures plunging to -60 C, Tiktak finally threw in the towel and cancelled the igloo-building camp he holds for young people.
Global warming not only brings hotter summers it brings colder winters, so particularly freezing winters are likely to remain. When igloo building is put on hold it’s time to start talking about workplace changes. Last year at this same time, same weather problem, this column made an impassioned plea for the creation of a new national holiday. From the euphoria of the December holiday season to the escape of the March break, Canadians suffer in the cold without a day off.
It’s time to change that and honour Canada’s post-Second World War leader Louis Saint Laurent. Not only did he play an important role in the development of the St. Lawrence Seaway, but perhaps more importantly he was born on Feb. 1. Right smack in the middle of the annual winter freeze-out when all good employees should be warm in their beds at home.
Last February, I urged HR practitioners to champion the cause of Louis Saint Laurent Day, but other than a long-time friend in HR with the City of Toronto who said he was posting the column on the bulletin board at work, there’s been a marked lack of action to get this on corporate and political agendas. So, it’s going to take a bit more effort, but for Louis’ sake can’t we all pull together as a country on this one? Let’s put aside our regional and political differences. With weather like this who needs enemies?
Freezing temperatures across the country even made it tough to get your mail. Canada Post is investigating 10 letter carriers from Gatineau, Que., who abandoned their routes when temperatures dropped to –40 Celsius. Canada Post said 20,000 other workers stayed on the job, even in colder places. Torontonians were grateful it happened in Quebec — if Toronto workers did this there’d be a lot of comments about a city of “wimps.” Come on, admit it.
Postal workers defended themselves by saying mittens are clunky for letter sorting, and you end up taking them off. Besides, all that stuff about “through sleet and snow” is an American motto, and they have their mittens sewn on to their jackets so they won’t lose them, which is not the case under the current Canada Post collective agreement.
None of this impresses Noah Tiktak of Rankin Inlet, Nunavut, whose outdoor job really got to be too much, even by Inuit standards. With temperatures plunging to -60 C, Tiktak finally threw in the towel and cancelled the igloo-building camp he holds for young people.
Global warming not only brings hotter summers it brings colder winters, so particularly freezing winters are likely to remain. When igloo building is put on hold it’s time to start talking about workplace changes. Last year at this same time, same weather problem, this column made an impassioned plea for the creation of a new national holiday. From the euphoria of the December holiday season to the escape of the March break, Canadians suffer in the cold without a day off.
It’s time to change that and honour Canada’s post-Second World War leader Louis Saint Laurent. Not only did he play an important role in the development of the St. Lawrence Seaway, but perhaps more importantly he was born on Feb. 1. Right smack in the middle of the annual winter freeze-out when all good employees should be warm in their beds at home.
Last February, I urged HR practitioners to champion the cause of Louis Saint Laurent Day, but other than a long-time friend in HR with the City of Toronto who said he was posting the column on the bulletin board at work, there’s been a marked lack of action to get this on corporate and political agendas. So, it’s going to take a bit more effort, but for Louis’ sake can’t we all pull together as a country on this one? Let’s put aside our regional and political differences. With weather like this who needs enemies?
