Possible Canada Postal strike this summer 2016 CBC reports contract dispute, brace for interuption

[wkndshop]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-post-warns-key-customers-of-looming-contract-dispute-1.360190...

If there is a postal strike, i would pretty much have to close shop, its too pricey to send my items via courier.

[dutchman48]

Do you really think they want to be responsible for all kinds of stuff dropped off with no place to put it or even a secure location?

[triber]

I don't know about the bigger outlets, but last time there was a strike, it ended up being first in, last out at our small PO.  I was told the package "got left in the bottom of the containers, I don't think they are going to rout through the boxes to get out the ones on the bottom first. I find this also happens after a holiday like Christmas where packages build up over several days.

[momcqueen]

I assume nothing; I ask questions until I get a satisfactory answer which is the reason I posed it to the manager at my local authorized dealer. The dealers have their own contractural obligations to CPC as well. I'll ask again the next time I see her to determine if she has new information, and I'll call the Canada Post corporate hotline to see what they say about it too. I was once a reporter. Unanswered questions to me are like a bone to a dog.

[pierrelebel]

KISS -

Thinking outside the box is quite useful at times.  However, with Canada Post on strike (if they strike) there is only one option for a Canadian seller located in Manitoba and averaging less than one transaction a day: put the store on vacation with listings NOT visible.

KISS

As suggested by others, use the "downtime" to review current listings and to prepare more listings.

[momcqueen]

I can do both. The more I think about it, the more stupid it seems to close simply because Canada Post is down. Canada Post Corporation doesn't own me. I make my own business decisions and have contemplated more than once switching to a courier. Now there is a better reason than ever before. If I was taking a road trip cross-country only to find a section of the Trans-Canada was closed for repair, I wouldn't turn around and go home, cancelling my travel plans; if find another way to get there.

Being mid-Canada puts me in a fine position to do so. And my third-quarter is never as sluggish as my second. I can still get parcels where they need to go with not a lot more effort and a little ingeniuty, so why shut down?

Until eBay Canada comes straight out and tells us to do so, I won't consider it necessary.

[tobyshitzu]

Ebay isnt going to tell anyone to shut down being some sellers dont use CP.  eg staples sent my last ebay $10/free shipping ebay item UPS.  Good luck doing that if you aren't the size of staples.  If proplr keep selling stuff they can't deliver it will be their substantial problem to deal with

[momcqueen]

There certainly may be sellers for whom it is a better idea to close but I don't think that's me. Canada Post's problems don't have to be my problem, they are a hurdle. Nothing more. I wouldn't decide to stay open if I really thought I would be unable to deliver. There are a dozen courier companies from which to chose, and a good portion of my business is local pick-up so shipping is a moot point.

But I am also determined to a fault, and I don't care for decisions being made for me. If business is slow because no one is shopping online, no loss. If it's brisk, so much the better that I wasn't unecessarily closed. Extended handling time should set realistic expectations for any unforeseen circumstances that might stem from using couriers in place of Canada Post. Those are my thoughts.

[zee-chan-jpn-books]

My books are all thin and light so CP is pretty much my only feasible option (courier obviously can't get a book from Vancouver to anywhere in the States for less than $6) so... I think I'll take a bit of a risk and end all of my listings on June 27 instead of June 22 like most people picked. I do live in Vancouver and most of my sale are overseas so I think as long as I ship by June 28 there should be no problem with these mail getting out of the country by June 30. 

[lukey9]

I already decided a long time ago that  items ending on June 22 was going to be my closing down day even if CP does not strike it has been so slow. I am going to take some time off and enjoy the summer for a change. Since I closed the store down I have not been listing very much just enough that customers know I'm still around.

[triber]

I asked at the post office this morning, and the post manager didn't even know about a strike, she said that the last strike they heard about it the day of, when a customer asked why they were still accepting mail.

[dutchman48]

Here is what I was told from a reliable source. It is CUPW that may get locked out or go on strike. Not all post office workers belong to CUPW.

Sorting plants who are CUPW are already on slow down.

Any postal outlets that are not CUPW will remain open or they do not get paid. Any that are CUPW will be closed.

Private outlets may or may not be open as they are not CUPW. It will be up to the outlets themselves to make that decision.

There will be no mail pick up or delivery so anything at the PO or retail outlets that are open, will remain there until the walk out or strike is over, and then it will take a while for the back log to get cleared.

There is no way I will sell or purchase anything after the 15th under this threat of what may happen.

[momcqueen]

May I ask the reason that no one is willing to consider switching to courier service?

[dutchman48]

Have you checked their prices at all?

I don't use them as it would be far more expensive than CP unless I want tracking which is seldom.

I also don't have a depot here as I am in a small hamlet.

[momcqueen]

The last time I looked at domestic rates, they were comparable to CPC Xpresspost costs. Most of my items weigh 250 g and can ship in a box 22 X 17 X 7 cm. My packing is very efficient and I have a proper box size for each item I sell so no cubic volume is wasted.

[dutchman48]

Take an item and compare the courier and Canada Post pricing for the same item to the same destination and you will have a better idea.

I can send expedited parcel cheaper than express post but don't know about courier, but as I said, I don't use it either unless I need or want tracking or is more expensive.

Call fedex and ups or any other you can think of to see what they charge and then compare to CO domestic, US, and international unless you don't ship world wide.

As I said before, if you are insistent on doing it, just do it and see how costs and business compare before and after.

[dutchman48]

I see you ship worldwide so you will also have consider import and customs duties by the courier companies

[ricarmic]

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@mjwl2006 wrote:
May I ask the reason that no one is willing to consider switching to courier service?

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In my case, since my buyers are stamp collectors, they get right irritated when the package arrives without stamps on it... so I'm "bound" to Canada Post.....
 

[reallynicestamps]

"We can expect the postal counters at authorized dealers to stay open. An order can be packed and handed over to them and be first in line in the glut that awaits the resumption of duty."

As soon as there is a strike or lockout no outlet will accept any mail

But then there is this question:

himacdon wrote: The problem is most pickup points here are an absolute zoo and can't handle the traffic they are getting, and don't have the room to be storing many parcels.

A lot of postal outlets in cities and suburbs are in large businesses, like Shoppers Drug Mart. I suspect that the corporate suits will chat with their legal types about responsibility for long term storage. I'm neither corporate nor legal, but there are too many potential problems if a lockout* goes over a few days. 

If there are rotating strikes of a day or two, there will be delays but not huge buildups. Lockouts on the other hand may make the operators of Postal Outlets rethink signing up for the next contract.

One PO operator** I knew in Ottawa got out because the profits were too low, the bookkeeping was a nightmare, and CPO would not accept back unsold stamps and other products.

*If the union leaders are smart they will opt for rotating strikes rather than a huge walkout. It is only in the employer's interest to stop all business with a lockout.

** Gift and greeting card shop in a strip mall.

[reallynicestamps]

"We can expect the postal counters at authorized dealers to stay open. An order can be packed and handed over to them and be first in line in the glut that awaits the resumption of duty."

As soon as there is a strike or lockout no outlet will accept any mail

[vintagenorth]

Anyone know if Chit Chats accepts LetterPost items? It's a 45 min drive for me each way so I only use them for buying envelopes but thinking I could do a weekly drive to them.

[tobyshitzu]

It will only take a few days of rotating strikes with threat of complete strike over hanging, for CP to lock them out again.  Of course the union would prefer rotating strikes again, harldy lose anything while they tank CP's revenue as all the large customers switch to couriers and the small ones fear mailing anything