Small businesses brace for more pain with looming Canada Post strike

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Kristy’s take: How often do you send and receive mail?

Small businesses worry about looming Canada Post strike

Small businesses are worried a second Canada Post strike in less than a year could bring further losses in an already difficult economic environment.

More than 55,000 Canada Post workers could go on strike starting Friday, bringing mail and parcel deliveries to a halt.

Alex Kravis, owner of GT Games in Carleton Place, Ont. says about half of his business at his brick-and-mortar store comes from consumers buying items such as trading cards and DVDs online.

Another postal strike could mean between $30,000 to $40,000 in losses each month it goes on, he says.

“We wouldn’t be here if we didn’t have the online side of our business,” Kravis told CTV News.

The small business located west of Ottawa was significantly impacted by the last Canada Post strike last year, resulting in a loss of 80 per cent of its online sales and temporary layoffs.

The 32-day strike in November and December saw millions of parcels and letters held up during the busy holiday season until it was ended after federal intervention.

Kravis says most of his inventory can be shipped as standard sized mail that is sent for relatively cheap, while other services such as FedEx and Purolator charge significantly more.

“All the sudden, customers who are used to paying $2 or $3 to get their items shipped to them are now paying $16 to get the exact same item shipped to them with an alternative carrier other than Canada Post,” he said.

A work stoppage would affect millions of residents and businesses who typically receive more than two billion letters and roughly 300 million parcels a year via the service.

Businesses such as Ottawa-based wellness brand Ananda Elixirs have already pivoted to other carriers after the last strike, but say it’s not easy.

“The problem with that is a lot of them don’t go to all the places in Canada, especially rural places. We usually rely on Canada Post for that, so not having Canada Post is going to really affect the business,” said Dylan Dreiling, co-founder of Ananda Elixirs.

“They’re not going to be able to purchase our product or their going to have to pay a lot for shipping.”

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers has pushed back against the Crown corporation’s desire to hire part-time workers for weekend deliveries and are demanding better pay, benefits and pensions.

 “We put to the employer some options around some of what we see as the sticking points and we’ve been waiting ever since,” said Jim Gallant, a union negotiator with the Canadian Union of Postal Workers.

A newly released commissions report suggests reducing door-to-door delivery, saying the corporation faces an “existential crisis” if it does not make foundational changes to its business model.

Canada Post said the disruption would deepen the company’s grave financial situation and argued both sides should focus on hammering out a deal.

“We need to work together between the union and employer to make changes to our collective agreement and other changes so that we can get out of this death spiral that we’re in. Because mail continues to decline,” said Jon Hamilton, a Canada Post senior spokesperson.

Kravis says he worries another strike, especially a lengthy one, could have customers looking elsewhere.

“I feel like it’s pushing consumers away from small business and toward the big-box corporations that have their own alternative shipping or their own shipping solutions within,” he said.

With files from The Canadian Press