Should We Be Preparing for a Canada Post Strike?

[teenytrinkets]

Is anyone closely following strike negotiations?

I'll likely have Time Away scheduled to avoid any Strike mayhem, but wondering what will happen to any lettermail/ packages that are already in the "stream". Will they sit at a depot/DC or on a truck for the duration, or will they likely have a rotating strike and keep moving things along with just delays?

[fergua3]

there's an even bigger problem with using carriers other than CP, lotz.  That is......they won't take your business.  During postal strikes other carriers are overwhelmed with the increase in demand for their services.  They don't have the ability to handle all the new business without compromising the service they give to existing customers.  They know most of the new business will not turn into long term customers, once the strike is over, so.....they turn most of it away.

So using other carriers is not a good option.  It's like using taxi cabs during a public transit strike.  Way more expensive and good luck finding one...

[brettjet38]

https://albertaworker.ca/news/canadian-postal-workers-vote-95-to-strike/

Here are a few other proposals the workers are making:

• Increase short-term disability payments to 80% of wages— currently only 70%
• Increase injury on-duty to payments to 88%
• Increase paid medical days from 7 to 10
• Improvements to health benefits, including coverage for health specialists, fertility treatment, gender-affirming care, and vision
• Give temporary workers access to health benefits when working on a continuous assignment of at least 6 months
• Contract in cleaning, highway services, combined urban services, and other work that CUPW members can perform
• Increase the number of services Canada Post offers, such as postal banking, senior and other check-ins, and an e-commerce platform

Keep in mind that a strike vote doesn’t mean the workers are going on strike. It does give their bargaining teams extra leverage to use in negotiations. They can go back to the table and show the employer that the workers are willing to (overwhelmingly) go on strike to protect their current contract and get their new wages.

Hopefully, Canada Post will make concessions this time, rather than force them to go on strike then use their strike as an excuse to beg on their knees to the Trudeau government to interfere, like they did in 2018.

The federal government appointed two mediators on 15 October to help with negotiations, so we’ll see what happens.

If Canada Post refuses to concede and the workers do go on strike, the earliest they can do it is this upcoming Sunday Oct 27, 2024.

Canadian postal workers vote 95% to strike

The last time they went on strike, the Trudeau government forced them back to work.

https://www.cupw.ca/en/postal-workers-vote-yes-good-jobs-and-better-public-service

[ilikehockeyjerseys]

It is a good point that carriers might see disruptions, but if you're on eBay right now there is a good chance you already have access to most of the carriers. 

As of the time of this post, you can open a Chit Chats or Stallion account. Additionally, eBay labels has UPS and Fedex. 

The two major bottlenecks with Canada Post not operating are access of drop spots. With Canada Post, I can drop almost everything that I sell in a street mailbox. There are stree mailboxes everywhere. The other bottlenck is that there isn't a service where you can ship a small package for $2 like with lettermail. The cheapest is Stallion at about $6-7 for most locations with UniUni. 

eBay considers 3-day handling time to be the maximum handling time before they mark your listings as requiring extended handling time. UPS offers pickups for $1 if you book them a day ahead. So you could hypotheticcally adhere to eBay's 3 day handling time with UPS for an extra $2 a week by booking pickups every 3 business days.

Chit Chats and Stallion are a bit more difficult. You really need volume to justify the hassle. Or, you need to have a drop spot in a location near somewhere you go anyways. So that the actual marginal time for dropping it off is minimal. If you have high volumes, you can ship batches of orders into their warehouses. Although, that comes with a lot of liability, because if you send a large box of orders via Canpar and it gets lost or misplaced, you have multiple buyers who are affected by a lost package, not just one.

The above won't be accurate for rural sellers. Rural sellers will be disproportionately affected by the strike. If you live in or near a city and your business plan doesn't heavily rely on lettermail, you will probably be fine. If anything, your service might even improve. 

[ericsells75]

So I really only use Canada Post. I’m not updating all my listings to add additional carriers. The way I read the last email is they are in legal strike position by Nov 3rd. We all know this is a game of chicken between the two. So anything mailed this week has the potential to get caught up and get delayed now. So, put the store on vacation and risk sales during a busy time or chance it??? I really don’t know what to do.

[ricarmic]

I wasn't paying close enough attention and I have auctions running until tomorrow night, so I think I'll "time away" my store Wednesday. I have easily over 1,000 lots ready and needing picturing so I'll concentrate on that and some last minute outside fall jobs till the picture is clearer.

In the meantime, I've put an update in the messages I'm sending to buyers (so far only positive responses):

(New Buyers)

Thank you so much for your purchase, your business is so very much appreciated! Your parcel has been shipped out today, Monday XXXXXX. Note that the parcel delivery timeline may be affected by a potential Canada Post strike, which may begin November 3rd, as well as other factors like weather events etc. Once the parcel arrives, I hope you will find everything satisfactory.  If you are not completely pleased with this transaction, please feel free to contact men and I will do my best to resolve any issues. Thank you very much in advance for your extra patience while the parcel makes the journey. Regards, RICARMIC 

(Repeat Buyers)

Thank you for your most recent purchase and quick payment. I am pleased you decided to purchase from me again. Your parcel has been shipped out today, Monday XXXXXX. Note that the parcel delivery timeline may be affected by a potential Canada Post strike, which may begin November 3rd, as well as other factors like weather events etc. Thank you very much in advance for your extra patience while the parcel makes the journey. Regards, RICARMIC 

[ilikehockeyjerseys]

I can't impose on you what you should do. Everybody has a different situation with how much volume they sell, and their willingness to take a break. Everybody also has a different situation based on what is available to them in terms of carriers. 

The way I see this is it is an opportunity to try different carriers and different marketing strategies that I may not have otherwise tried because of the opportunity cost. Even something like charging $6.99 for shipping (Stallion) instead of $3.99-$4.99 for oversized lettermail is a learning experience because it's a chance to find out how much a $2-$3 difference will affect volume on very low cost listings that have a lot of competition (both on and off eBay).

I guess that's trying to take a positive out of a negative situation. I understand for a lot of sellers, they simply aren't in a position to use alternate carriers. I am fortunate to be in a position where I have a few different options available to me that seem to work. 

[msmaggie060]

I have some personal parcels to ship using labels created with the Free shipping Tuesdays. I think I am just going to hold on to my parcels until Nov. 3rd and see what happens then. They are Christmas gifts and usually take at least 8 to 10 days to get to AB so no rush. I know I can still use my labels.
Not worried about my ebay shipments. Been too busy with a reno, too hard to find everything, most of my belongings are in a  Pod on my driveway for the last 4 weeks and will be there another 4 or 5 weeks. Haven't been able to list and as we know that causes little to no sales. I will put my store on time away this week though just in case. I can't wait until my home is put back together again!

[38e_avenue]

A rotating strike is not that bad - 1 or 2 day delay is rather negligible.  

In 2011 they created a real mayhem, by refusing to accept and move parcels during 2 weeks. 

[fergua3]

if history repeats itself, there won't be any strike action for a week or two.  Then there will be tiny one day strikes at certain facilities, buiiding over about a 2 week period to more major province wide strikes.  At that point CP will lockout the workers.  The gov't will say they are not going to do anythng and want the negotiations to play out on their own.  After several days the gov't will say it is forced to take action, the opposiiton will squawk, eventually the legislation will get passed (after about 2 weeks)  and the workers will return to work, with the bulk of the Christmas season lost to retailers who rely on CP.

Merry Christmas from your monopolized postal system.

[ericsells75]

Yeah, I decided to put my store on time away until at least next week to get a better sense of how this is going to play out. Don’t want anything going out today getting shut down in transit for now. Not worth the hassle.
As for the whole monopoly/union aspect… I’ll go no comment lol 🙂

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

---

@fergua3 wrote:

there's an even bigger problem with using carriers other than CP, lotz.  That is......they won't take your business.  During postal strikes other carriers are overwhelmed with the increase in demand for their services.  They don't have the ability to handle all the new business without compromising the service they give to existing customers.  They know most of the new business will not turn into long term customers, once the strike is over, so.....they turn most of it away.

So using other carriers is not a good option.  It's like using taxi cabs during a public transit strike.  Way more expensive and good luck finding one...

---

@fergua3 

And now there is word (in some locals) of uber switching to surge pricing. Kinda like couriers charging extra at peak times like Xmas. Just be grateful some sellers don't try such a tactic when an item is high in demand!!!

If eBay asks us where their monthly fees payment is, just tell them the cheque is in the mail!!! Be patient....like our customers.

-Lotz

[chicweb]

Well, I just removed everything Canada Post related on my shipping.

This will kill my store. Good Job Canada Post.... At LEAST, my business have other incomes and we were just starting this year on eBay.

Running a service business also might save me... Having only been doing eBay would have been very very dangerous.

I won't say my opinion on the Union right now... Don't want to lose my temper.

UPS is the cheapest within Canada right now for me to use. And it will be almost double of what I charged for shipping and triple on some other items. Oh well... we'll see.

[recped]

---

@lotzofuniquegoodies wrote:

---

And now there is word (in some locals) of uber switching to surge pricing.

---

uber has had surge pricing right from the start.

[darak10]

yeah, thats what I was told by a postie friend of mine, the scuttlebutt going round at his site as well is that they will be locked out.  we will find out for sure soon. 

[skylarstuff]

According to the Union they posted this yesterday.

Friday November 1 2024

2023-2027/151

No. 37

As you are likely aware, the Union could have been in a legal strike position as of 12:01 am, November 3, but we cannot take strike action until we have issued a 72-hour strike notice to both the Employer and the Minister of Labour.

As of today, the Union remains at the table and has not issued a 72-hour notice, but this was done with agreement with Canada Post going forward. This means that a strike or lockout will not occur on November 3, 2024.

[byto253]

I have a few that sold which would normally be shipped on Monday.  All to the US and it takes 2-3 days to go through Montreal and get to the US.  Watching closely if it is to much risk the ship them Monday in case a strike pops up by Wednesday or so.   

Likely make the out of the way trip to chitchats and go on vacation until the dust settles.  That will be a good chance to prep some collections I have for listings.   Tackle that death pile!!!! 

[tellephoto]

Union Update - Monday November 4 2024

2023-2027/152

No. 38

Over the weekend, talks continued between CUPW and Canada Post, with negotiators meeting with the employer to address two key issues.

On Saturday, November 2, we focused on the short-term disability plan.  Unfortunately, the Employer demonstrated little willingness to consider our demand to include 10 Medical Days and 7 Personal Days as part of our collective agreements. Canada Post refuses to move from its position of including 13 Personal Days, which does not represent an improvement from what we currently have.

On Sunday, November 3, we shifted our discussions to weekend delivery. Our priority in negotiating weekend delivery is to ensure that the weekend delivery does not compromise our regular full-time routes on weekdays. We are not satisfied that the Employer’s plan will protect our weekday work. The Employer’s main interest lies in achieving “flexibility” to deliver parcels at the lowest possible cost.

Although CUPW has not yet issued a strike notice to Canada Post or the Minister of Labour, if there is no real movement at the bargaining table, we won’t shy away from taking the next step.

Your Negotiators remain at the table working hard to negotiate collective agreements that address our concerns and help CPC grow the business. We all know the best collective agreements are those negotiated at the bargaining table.

The Negotiations Committee appreciates the tremendous amount of support from members. Your encouragement has not gone unnoticed.

In Solidarity,

Jan Simpson

National President

[mensma-58]

I'd be laying on the recording room floor passed out when I'd hear Charlie drumming through the glass so loud I'd have to get up and start playing.

[byto253]

7 day parcel delivery looks like it will be a real sticking point.  

[tellephoto]

Canada Post lost $748 million last year, but the Union wants a raise. Would this even fly in the private sector?