With Canada Post strike underway, small business owners scramble to make other arrangements

With Canada Post workers on strike as of Friday morning, small business owners across Canada who rely on the service — especially during the busy holiday season — say they’re scrambling to make alternative arrangements.

Sterling Slingerland, a small business owner in Oshawa, Ont., runs an online gift shop that makes and sells suncatchers, hats and stickers, and commissions artwork from other artists.

Slingerland said Sterling’s Suncatchers has ended online shipping and that, for the time being, local customers will have to pick up their purchases.

But the majority of the shop’s clientele is in the U.S., Slingerland said.

“I’m so used to Canada Post. That’s all I’ve ever worked with. And they’re right around the corner. I know the people at the mail office. I know the guy that comes to the door,” added the small business owner.

“I love our postal workers and I don’t blame them for going on strike at all because I know the cost of living is going up, and they have families, too.”

Slingerland isn’t used to working with courier services like UPS or FedEx, instead using Canada Post because they offer small business discounts — and because they do direct pick-up, which is helpful because Slingerland has a disability.

Slingerland will make an arrangement with UPS or FedEx if the Canada Post strike is long-term, but the prospect of that is nerve-wracking. “I know that UPS is $3 or $4 more, which it sounds like a small amount, but it adds up quickly.”

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), which represents independent businesses across the country, called on the federal government Thursday to use all its powers — including binding arbitration or back-to-work legislation — to end the disruption.

Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon said on Friday that the government is currently only looking to resolve the matter through negotiation.

Corinne Pohlmann, executive vice-president of CFIB, told CBC News it’s “somewhat disappointing” that the federal government is pushing for negotiation rather than binding arbitration.

“We’re hoping that there can be some resolution given to this issue sooner rather than later, because the impacts can be quite tough on a lot of small businesses, especially at this time of year.”

The CFIB said in its statement that about 80 per cent of small businesses in Canada rely on Canada Post for shipping goods or for invoicing or receiving payments.

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Corinne Pohlmann, executive vice-president of advocacy for the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, says her organization asked members what they were worried about ahead of the Canada Post strike.

No alternative, small business owner says

“Letter mail doesn’t have an alternative, and that’s what most of our shipping is,” Rémi Vienneau LeClair, owner of Comic Hunter in Moncton, N.B., told CBC News.

“It’s asking people if they want to pay $20 instead of $2. It’s not really an alternative.”

Earlier in the week, some small businesses were already bracing themselves. One shop owner in Toronto said that a strike would potentially cost his store $60,000 a month.

“Without being able to ship our product, it pretty well shuts down that part of our sales channel,” said Don McCowan, owner of Wheels and Wings Hobbies, a store on Danforth Avenue in Toronto’s East End.

McCowan said he’ll try to arrange a backup plan with UPS. But he said that courier companies charge more — and with smaller volumes, choosing a new service “would eat into our profits.”

“Forty-five per cent of our business goes out through Canada Post. So if all of a sudden we can’t ship that 45 per cent, you can’t meet your overhead.”

Teamsters Canada has said its members at Purolator won’t handle any packages postmarked or identified as originating from Canada Post.

Spokesperson Christopher Monette said in an email ahead of the strike announcement that the CUPW has the Teamsters’ full support and that they believe good union jobs are essential pillars of Canadian society.