Strike at Canada Post | Traders urge federal government to intervene

The Retail Council of Canada (RCC) is urging the federal government to intervene in the postal strike, which the organization says is having “disastrous effects” on retailers.

The organization, which represents 54,000 businesses, noted Tuesday that the work stoppage at Canada Post is making it more difficult for retailers to meet customer needs and stay in business.

“The distribution sector knows that the best labor agreement is negotiated between the two parties, but that is not the case here, and it is time to end this strike,” said Diane J. Brisebois, president -general director of the CCCD, in a press release.

The strike of more than 55,000 Canada Post workers has entered its 19th^e day Tuesday, as the Black Friday and Cyber ​​Monday shopping period came to an end.

Canada Post said Monday it was awaiting the union’s response to a framework it presented over the weekend for reaching negotiated deals.

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) reviewed the proposal and found that Canada Post moved closer to the union’s position on certain issues, while believing that the framework “falls far from an agreement that members can ratify.

One sticking point has been the push to add weekend delivery, with the union and Canada Post not agreeing on how the rollout should take place.

“In the meantime, thousands of retailers and millions of consumers are paying the price,” Ms.^me Brisebois, pointing out that businesses use the postal service to ship orders to customers, distribute flyers and sometimes even request or obtain payments from suppliers.

The strike was all the more disruptive for retailers because it is the industry’s busiest season, when sales tend to be higher because the holidays are approaching and companies are scrambling to settle their accounts for the year.

An Alberta accounting services company told the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) that it has funds held up at the post office because the store’s receivables are all mailed by insurance companies.

Also, the CFIB indicated that a seed supplier in Prince Edward Island who has used Canada Post for 86 years was unable to distribute 270,000 catalogs.

“Rather than hoping for an increase in income, [l’entreprise] now faces substantial warehousing costs for the large volume of printed materials and says Christmas orders will be low,” CFIB argued.

Delivery services unavailable or too expensive

To cope with the situation, some businesses encouraged people to shop in person and offered in-store pickups for online orders.

Others considered alternative delivery services but found they were more expensive than Canada Post.

“Due to the length of this strike, other delivery services are unavailable or too expensive, meaning shipments may not reach businesses, stores or customers in time for the holiday season. year,” argued M^me Brisebois.

Two weeks ago, Montreal tights maker Sheertex told customers that other delivery services were overloaded with orders and had implemented “significant surge pricing” on shipments.

With information from Rosa Saba, The Canadian Press