Overburdened by the postal strike, Purolator and UPS have suspended deliveries of some shipping services, which risks turning the holidays into a time of crisis for some companies whose operations are completely disrupted.
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“Purolator was the only affordable option for one-day delivery across Canada, but their system is completely overloaded,” lamented the director of operations for the cookie dough company Félix & Norton, Simon Paquin, in a email to Journal.
Earlier this week, the small Montreal business was notified that the private carrier would stop taking shipments for delivery from shipping platform eShipper “due to the postal strike and high shipping volumes.” season”.
According to Mr. Paquin, Purolator’s capacity has “fluctuated daily” since the start of the Canada Post strike, ranging from 1,500 labels per day to a complete shutdown.
Crisis
This is a difficult situation for businesses that rely on online commerce during the holiday season to score good deals.
“Normally, we record a daily sales volume 10 times higher thanks to corporate gifts and online orders, but we are forced to use limited local carriers with restricted coverage,” laments Simon Paquin.
In the last few days, Félix & Norton was even forced to temporarily close its e-commerce site.
“The delay threatens the viability of our business. The month of December is crucial and the products must absolutely arrive within 48 hours, because they do not contain any preservatives,” explains Mr. Paquin, who says he is “extremely frustrated by these circumstances.”
The conflict continues
Meanwhile, the labor dispute at Canada Post continues, as workers at the federal agency begin a fourth week of strike.
And there is no indication that the situation will be resolved quickly: mediation was put on ice last week, as a gulf still separated the positions of the two parties.
Earlier this week, the Canada Post workers’ union sent a new counter-offer to the mediator in the hope that negotiations would resume. For its part, the employer has indicated that it is studying this proposal.
In this context, voices are being raised in the business community to demand intervention from the federal government, which for the moment prefers to remain on the sidelines.
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