About 55,000 Canada Post workers went on strike for the second time in six years earlier this month after their union said it had failed to reach a pay deal with the postal service. The union is demanding wage increases in line with inflation, cost of living adjustment payments to be rolled into the basic wage rate, and safe working conditions (which seem like reasonable demands to me).
Flash forward to Black Friday / Cyber Monday and the strike continues, which is having a huge impact on retailers' abilities to get products to customers in time for the holidays. Even the US Postal Service temporarily suspended accepting mail headed to Canada due to the strike.
Lorne James, who owns Otter Valley Railway, a model train company in Ontario told the BBC that he’s lost C$120,000 in sales since the strike began. Up until two weeks ago, James was shipping 99% of his deliveries with Canada Post.
Shopify stepped in to lend support to small business owners.
In an open letter, Shopify called on the federal government to “do whatever is necessary” to get striking Canada Post workers back to work ahead of the Black Friday / Cyber Monday weekend, claiming that at least 67,000 of its associated small businesses rely on Canada Post to fulfill orders, especially to rural areas and to what Shopify calls a “monopoly” on P.O. box deliveries.
Shopify added that Minister of Labour and Seniors Steve MacKinnon must immediately intervene to “prevent a devastating blow to Canadian small businesses at their most critical time of year.”
Negotiations were at a stall.
Negotiations between Canada Post and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers have broken down, particularly over the issue of allowing temporary workers to help expand the company's delivery to seven-days-a-week.
Canada Post says it has delivered 10M fewer parcels since the strike began and began temporarily laying off striking workers last week — a move the union has called illegal, but which Canada Post says are in accordance with the Canada Labour Code.
However on Sunday (yesterday), Canada Post presented the union with a “comprehensive framework for reaching negotiated agreements,” which includes proposals to bring greater flexibility to its delivery model, while also “demonstrating movement on other key issues.”
Canada Post wrote in a statement:
“It is our hope that these proposals will reignite discussions and, together with the support of mediators, help the parties work toward final agreements. To facilitate talks, we will not be providing further details outside the negotiations process at this time. We understand the impact CUPW’s national strike is having on our employees, customers and so many Canadians. Canada Post remains committed to negotiating new collective agreements that will provide the certainty everyone is looking for.”
While it's great that Canada Post and the workers union may come to a resolution soon and get employees back to work, it might be too little too late this year for small businesses to have a successful holiday season.