If you think lineups at the Whistler Post Office are long now, imagine what it might be like if a current proposal to reduce staffing levels at the office is implemented in the new year.

Canada Post has put forward a proposal to the rural postal workers’ union in B.C. to cut staff hours at 44 post offices across the province, and the often busy Whistler office is one on the chopping block.

Though hours that the post office is open to the public are not proposed to change, the pitch is to cut staffing levels by 49 hours a week in Whistler, said Barbara Lincoln, president of the B.C. and Yukon branch of the Canadian Postmasters and Assistants Association.

Right now there’s a total of 305 weekly staff hours allocated to the Whistler post office and the current proposal is to reduce that to 256. There’s currently a part-time position of 24 hours a week that’s vacant and wouldn’t be filled and four full-time staff members would get their hours cut, effectively making them part time, if the proposal goes ahead, Lincoln said.

“It’s a lot,” she said.

While the cuts to hours would be a blow at any of the 44 offices included in the proposal, Lincoln estimates Whistler is perhaps the busiest rural post office in the country. Compared to the Sechelt office, where she works, Whistler’s revenue is double and the office has more point of sale terminals. The Sechelt office is currently allocated 256 staff hours a week, she added.

“I don’t know of any office in Canada that has the revenue of the Whistler office,” Lincoln said. “Our revenue is half and we’re busy.”

She said the original letter she got from Canada Post with the proposal to cut hours at 44 post offices indicated the changes would come into effect on Jan. 1. But a recent meeting with Canada Post officials has bought the union more time and a follow up meeting is set for Jan. 17, Lincoln said.

Canada Post spokesperson Colleen Frick stressed that the reduction to staff hours is “still a proposal” and that consultation and negotiation will take place with the Canadian Postmasters Assistants Association.

“The final implementation plan has not yet been set,” Frick said Monday (Dec. 20). “It is subject to change — right now it’s just a proposal.”

She also confirmed that any schedule changes would be internal and there are no changes planned to the hours that customers can access post offices in B.C.

The reductions to staff hours are being considered because of declining mail volumes across the country, Frick said. Canada Post is making adjustments to operate a responsible business while also continuing to serve its customers well.

There has been an 11 per cent decline in letter mail over the last four years in Canada, she said.

“Our reality is that our traditional business volume is declining drastically (and) very rapidly,” Frick said.

Whistler is no different, aside from a “favourable blip” during the 2010 Olympics, she said.

In fact, during a “trial period” from April to August 2010 the Whistler post office was running on about 243 staff hours a week — even lower than what’s in the current proposal, Frick said.

“They operated quite successfully with fewer scheduled hours per week,” she said.

But Lincoln said in reality during that period the Whistler postmaster was working unpaid overtime and skipping breaks to make up the shortfall.

As for the Jan. 17 negotiation meeting, Lincoln said the association doesn’t have much power to stop the cuts. She’s encouraging members of the public to write to Canada Post, MP John Weston and others to oppose the changes.

“If people are tired of standing in line they should be speaking up,” Lincoln said.