A member of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers pickets outside of a Canada Post Centre in Richmond B.C. on Friday.ETHAN CAIRNS/The Canadian Press
Canada Post deliveries across the country have stopped after the Crown corporation’s workers went on strike, leaving consumers and small businesses bracing for delays, missed payments and higher costs.
The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW), which represents more than 50,000 employees, called a nationwide walkout Thursday evening after the federal government announced sweeping changes to the postal service, including an end to door-to-door mail delivery and closing some rural post offices.
This is the second postal strike in less than a year, after more than 20 months of tense negotiations between the union and Canada Post. CUPW members staged a walkout last November, disrupting the holiday shipping season and costing small firms more than $1-billion.
Canada Post workers launch strike over Ottawa’s call to end home delivery
Although postal workers were ordered back to work, the order expired in May, and the two sides have still not reached a new collective agreement.
Canada Post says no mail or parcels will be processed or delivered during the strike, and items already in the system are not guaranteed to arrive on time. Consumers may face higher shipping costs as businesses pass on the extra expense of switching to private couriers, said Dan Kelly, president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.
Consumer advocates warn that older Canadians are among the most vulnerable.
“Postal disruption disproportionately affects seniors, especially those who are living in rural or remote parts of Canada, where alternatives to the traditional mail services are limited,” said Gabrielle Gallant, the director of policy at the National Institute on Ageing.
Despite a push to adopt direct deposit, many older Canadians still depend on traditional mail, Ms. Gallant said. “Because not all older Canadians have access to or even feel comfortable using digital services or more expensive private delivery options, postal strikes can actually risk deepening existing inequalities between older adults in Canada,” she said.
Delivery vehicles are parked at a Canada Post Letter Carrier Depot in Surrey B.C. on Friday.ETHAN CAIRNS/The Canadian Press
Government benefit cheques, including Old Age Security, the Canada Child Benefit and Canada Pension Plan payments, will continue to be delivered. But during the last strike, many seniors were still affected because CPP payments were “late” and “unpredictable,” said James Janeiro, the director of policy and government relations at the Canadian Centre for Caregiving Excellence.
“Many seniors are used to getting their cheque on a particular day and plan around that, particularly economically precarious seniors who wait on that cheque arriving before they can do their next grocery shop or pay the next bill,” Mr. Janeiro said. “There is a material impact.”
Other payments that don’t take the form of government cheques, such as private pension payments and disability assistance, could also be delayed, Mr. Janeiro added.
The disruption also affects seniors and people with disabilities who rely on mail to receive medical equipment and supplies, he said. If door-to-door delivery is permanently phased out, many older Canadians will face the added challenge of travelling to community mailboxes.
About one-quarter of Canadians, or four million addresses, still get mail delivered directly to their homes. The rest already use community, apartment or rural mailboxes.
Ending door-to-door delivery would save the postal service almost $400-million annually, the government estimates. Canada Post has 45 days to submit a plan outlining how it will implement these changes.
During last year’s strike, some companies permanently reduced their reliance on Canada Post, but more than two-thirds of small businesses still use its services, according to Mr. Kelly of the CFIB. About 15 per cent of businesses shifted away from the Crown corporation as a result of last year’s disruption, and Mr. Kelly expects more will follow if this strike goes on too long.
A person walks past community mailboxes in the Pointe-Claire neighbourhood of Montreal on Friday.Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press
For small businesses, the current strike means payments and invoices stuck in transit and cash flow frozen. “Millions of dollars get stuck in the mail right away, and that creates massive cash-flow issues,” Mr. Kelly said.
Suzanna Westerhof, an owner of dairy farm Oasis Acres Ltd. in Komoka, Ont., was expecting a $4,000 cheque from equipment sales that she now expects to be delayed.
“You can’t trust Canada Post,” Ms. Westerhof said. After the strike in November, she moved many of the company’s payments online.
But not every firm has the option to fully move away from Canada Post.
Audrey Jamieson, the founder and president of Marketing Kitchen, a direct-mail print production company, said her firm lost more than $500,000 in revenue during last year’s strike and another $200,000 in May when customers cancelled orders once the union was in legal strike action. On Friday morning, she said, a major airline put a large deal on hold that has been in the works for months.
“The impact on our business is massive,” Ms. Jamieson said. Her company, which largely depends on flyer deliveries, has also been hit by a union-imposed ban on flyer distribution. Many of those flyers carry time-sensitive promotions and risk becoming useless, she said.
Ms. Jamieson hasn’t had the luxury of being able to switch couriers. “There’s no other affordable alternative,” she said, noting that private courier prices are too high.
Even if businesses can switch, private couriers may struggle to absorb the extra demand, especially heading into the holiday season, Mr. Kelly said.