As thousands of Canada Post workers went on strike across the country Friday, Winnipeg small business owner Linda Zuzanski was among those hoping the walkout is short-lived.
Zuzanski, who owns the Love Nest, said the work stoppage will disrupt online shopping deliveries and supplier shipments just as the busy holiday season begins.
“We don’t need another headache on top of the fact sales are already down this year. My online business is basically going to be shut down while the strike is on,” she said, noting she is supportive of workers receiving fair wages.
MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS
Linda Zuzanski, whose website and storefronts on Main Street and Taylor Avenue sell sex toys, bondage accessories and other products, estimated 90 per cent of her suppliers are small businesses that ship via Canada Post. And of those, each supplier takes payment via mailed cheques, she said.
Canada Post said mail and parcels will not be processed or delivered during the strike, which is affecting millions of Canadians. Some post offices are closed.
The Crown corporation and Canadian Union of Postal Workers agreed to continue delivering government benefit cheques.
CUPW said about 55,000 members, including roughly 1,700 in Manitoba, were left with no choice but to strike, after contract talks failed. The union claims Canada Post threatened changes that would negatively affect working conditions and expose staff to layoffs.
CUPW’s demands include wage increases in line with inflation, improvements to group benefits and greater protections from technological change.
“We’ve come to the corporation with options for some of the things we’d like to see changed. For the options we’ve given, the answer to everything has been a resounding no,” Lisa Peterson, a letter carrier and past-president of CUPW Local 856 in Winnipeg, said as union members walked a picket line outside Canada Post’s mail-sorting plant near Richardson International Airport.
“It’s unfortunate we got to this point. We’re all willing to be at the table and have true negotiations with Canada Post.”
The Manitoba government said it will soon share details about how to pick up or drop off essential provincial government mail, such as cheques, court orders or medical supplies.
Manitoba Public Insurance said deliveries of annual statements, driver’s licences, cheques, personalized licence plates and electric vehicle rebates have been disrupted.
The City of Winnipeg reminded residents that departments or services that use traditional mail, including payments of water bills, property taxes or parking tickets, can be accessed online, in person or by calling 311.
Zuzanski, whose website and storefronts on Main Street and Taylor Avenue sell sex toys, bondage accessories and other products, estimated 90 per cent of her suppliers are small businesses that ship via Canada Post. Of those, each supplier takes payment via mailed cheques, she said.
She uses Canada Post to send online orders to customers across the country.
“I only have one package or two packages per day. We checked, and all those big (shipping) companies won’t deal with us because we’re too small,” Zuzanski said.
“If the strike continues for too long, any small business that relies on shipping products with Canada Post is going to be in big trouble.”
The holiday shopping season usually brings an uptick in sales in store and online. Zuzanski ordered inventory earlier than usual while the strike loomed.
Prof. Barry Prentice, director of the University of Manitoba’s Transport Institute, said the strike will cause disruption, but it won’t be as significant as past walkouts due to advancements in digital communication and increased competition from shipping companies.
MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS
Canada Post CUPW employees walk the picket line in front of the entrance to the main Canada Post sorting facility in Winnipeg Friday morning after failing to reach a negotiated agreement with management.
“A postal strike absolutely paralyzed the economy 40 years ago because everybody depended on the post office,” he said.
“Most of us (today) receive a small amount of mail. The reality is, (Canada Post) is sort of an anachronism in terms of communications. Parcels are a different story.”
While some Manitobans may not send or receive a lot of mail, many communities in rural and northern Manitoba rely on Canada Post, because there is no other option, said Peterson.
Connie Newman, executive director of the Manitoba Association of Senior Communities, said the strike will have an impact on older adults, especially those who do not use digital services.
“Many look to the mail for something to do every day, and it’s their connection to family, friends, etc.,” she said.
Many seniors receive benefit cheques by mail, she said.
“If they don’t get their money, they don’t get their food or they don’t get their pills,” said Newman.
The strike began two weeks into Canada Post’s annual Santa letter program for children.
Winnipeg resident Gail Henderson Brown usually begins writing and mailing Christmas cards to family and friends in late November. A prolonged strike could disrupt the annual tradition.
“I mail a lot. I’m a mailer because I believe we should have a postal service, and I write postcards and Christmas cards because I think that is a dying art,” Henderson Brown said outside a Shoppers Drug Mart in St. James that has a Canada Post outlet.
The outlet will stay open with limited services, including stamp sales and mail forwarding, during the strike, a sign stated.
chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca
Chris Kitching
Reporter
Chris Kitching is a general assignment reporter at the Free Press. He began his newspaper career in 2001, with stops in Winnipeg, Toronto and London, England, along the way. After returning to Winnipeg, he joined the Free Press in 2021, and now covers a little bit of everything for the newspaper. Read more about Chris.
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