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?

[flipistics]

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@lud-4367 wrote:

My chiristmas wish this year, "Please, privatize Canada Post, pretty please". 

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Privatization is a really, really bad idea. Canada Post serves a very important function for people in rural areas that other carriers don't service, both parcel and lettermail, and the prices for those places are kept reasonable with it serving as a Crown Corporation.

The main issue is two-fold.  Private carriers ignore (or pawn off on Canada Post) the routes that would otherwise lose them money while undercutting on the profitable routes. They also often aren't fully unionized, which put them at a significant cost of staff advantage.

IMO the government needs to just accept the situation and fund Canada Post to allow it to run at a loss. Most other countries do this, and for good reason.

There's lots of other things Canada Post can do to increase efficiency too, which the Union is obviously against.  For example, with lettermail volume dropping significantly, there's no reason to deliver it 5 days a week.

[tellephoto]

Canada Post Issues 72-Hour Lockout Notice

Tuesday November 12 2024

2023-2027/157

No. 42

On November 12, 2024, Canada Post served the Union with a 72- hour notice of lockout. This notice takes effect as of November 15, 2024, at 8:00 am (EST). The Corporation claims to be committed to reaching negotiated collective agreements, but its actions show otherwise. 

[mrdutch1001]

Am still taking a wait and see what happens, approach....

CP: "it won't cease any operations at this time."

[fergua3]

the immediacy of the lockout may result in a quicker resolution this time.  Saves the week to ten days of rotating strikes before the lockout.   We'll see how fast the gov't steps in this time.

[tellephoto]

Words from Jan Simpson President of the Union

“We’re not just bargaining for ourselves; we’re bargaining for the public and for all workers. Too many people have fallen behind over the last few years while executives’ salaries keep rising,” adds Simpson. “When unionized workers make gains, it lifts up all communities, bringing widespread benefits. We are committed to negotiating the best collective agreements possible for our members while also protecting the valued and cherished public postal service.”

[mrdutch1001]

I believe the Federal Gov't is on a roll lately with ending these strikes/lockout,  so am hopeful the Gov't will end this ridiculous CP action ...

[canada-vintage]

I was interested to try Chitchats as I ship 95% of my stuff to USA, but I'm 2 hours from the Montreal drop off. They offer the option to get the parcels shipped to them in one larger box (by CanPar for example), but the "big box" has to be less than $800.00USD total declared value per shipment daily, as it is the personal exemption for US buyers and they don't want to involve extra brokerage for more expensive items. I sell vintage watches, some days are dead but others the $800.00 limit is reached fast with 2-3 items. Too much trouble.

[teenytrinkets]

They've already d!cked us around for over a week, so I'm happy they're both finally taking some action. Better to rip the bandaid off quickly...

[ilikehockeyjerseys]

I might be misunderstanding you. 

The larger CanPar box doesn't go to the USA. You are shipping a box that of multiple different orders to a Chit Chat facility in Canada. Chit Chat unpacks that box and scans each individual package. 

There are some considerations. Such as the liability of CanPar losing your package and what the insurance situation would be if CanPar lost 2-3 big orders. I am not sure I would feel comfortable mailing in batches of expensive watches like that, but not for any reason relating to the $800 customs limit, which shouldn't apply in this case because your batch isn't going to the USA.

Do you have a UPS Store that is closer than Chit Chats? That might be a reasonable option. I'm assuming you already looked into UPS and Fedex, and that you're in a remote location where they won't pickup. But a store or drop spot may still be an option.

Whether you go with Chit Chats, or UPS, or Fedex, one thing you could consider doing is using extended handling times. Priority Mail via Chit Chats or UPS Standard will only take a few days from Canada to the USA in most cases. If watches are like other collectibles, the person buying it is most likely buying it for their collection and isn't in a hurry to get it because they probably already have multiple watches. If you sell the kind of collectible where it's buy it or miss finding it for a long time, you may not see a big hit through having 5-10 day handling times. This might be better than shutting down entirely and would ensure you only have to drive to a drop spot once a month instead of multiple times a week. 

[brettjet38]

https://m.communications.canadapost-postescanada.ca/nl/jsp/m.jsp?c=%407CZuzPK7GuutONXyVW7EZQCvlr9WIM...

Canada Post intends to continue operating as strike notices received from CUPW

Canada Post has received strike notices from the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW), for both Urban and RSMC (Rural and Suburban Mail Carriers) bargaining units. The notices indicate that CUPW will be in a legal position to begin strike activity on November 15, at 12:01 am ET.

We know you need certainty at this critical time of year and understand the implications for your business. We value the trust you place in us to deliver and we are committed to providing you with timely updates and the details you need to make informed decisions.

Company provides notice to adjust operations while continuing to deliver

Canada Post has notified the union and CUPW-represented employees that unless new agreements are reached, the current collective agreements will no longer apply as of Friday.

The Corporation will then be in a position, using the means provided in the Canada Labour Code, to adjust operations based on its operational realities and business needs. A labour disruption would affect the millions of Canadians and businesses who rely on the postal service. It is critical that both parties focus their energies on resolving issues to reach negotiated agreements.

Working to minimize service delays

In the event CUPW initiates rotating strike activity, Canada Post intends to continue delivering for Canadians and Canadian businesses while working to reach agreements. The Corporation will work to minimize service disruptions, but customers may experience delays.

Mail and parcels flow through Canada Post’s highly integrated national network each day to get from sender to receiver. Shutting down facilities or regions with rotating strikes can cause immediate and prolonged ripple effects throughout the network.

Evolving to better meet your needs

To secure the future of the business and better serve our customers, the Corporation needs a more flexible and affordable delivery model that allows it to offer seven-day-a-week parcel delivery, with more competitive pricing and other important service improvements that meet the evolving needs of the market.

Stay up to date

We’ll notify you if there is a labour disruption of any kind, and keep you updated as the situation develops. We’ll post regular updates at canadapost.ca/negotiations.

[38e_avenue]

The are talking about us (CBC): 

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/money/topstories/small-businesses-brace-as-canada-post-workers-issue-72-ho... 

[videotimeplus]

So if theres a lockout do i have to change all my ads one by one to have UPS as an option or can i just select UPS when I go to pay for my shipping label?

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

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@videotimeplus wrote:

So if theres a lockout do i have to change all my ads one by one to have UPS as an option or can i just select UPS when I go to pay for my shipping label?

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@videotimeplus 

UPS might work for your more pricy listings. Not sure on lower value. You might want to pre-test using an assortment of postal & zipcodes to get an idea. For the quantity of listings you have you can use bulk edit to update. Do in smaller batches like 10 or 20. Would be less painless than 1 at a time. 

Personally I'm in a quandry. Right now it's between putting store on holiday or switching to in person home delivery. I guess if I go for home delivery I can write off gas, hotels and meals. Hope my customers can be patient until I get there? Anyone have a copy of Planes, Trains and Automobiles they want to "send" me for cheap??

[videotimeplus]

I'll probably use the bulk edit to add UPS, unfortunately this time of year is too important for us to set time away since many people are ordering video games for christmas gifts.

[ilikehockeyjerseys]

Do all your items include accurate weights and dimensions in the listings? 

If yes:

1. Click the "Hi, YourName" drop down in the top left corner of the screen.
2. Click Account Settings.
3. Under seller, click business policies. 
4. Click create policy<Shipping.
5. Create a policy with calculated UPS rates. Name it something obvious like 'Canada Post Strike Policy'.
6. Go back to business policies, beside "View", click shipping.
7. Highlight your old shipping policies, click Reassign listings. This will open a popup.
8. Using the popup, choose your Canada Post Strike Policy. This will move all your old listings to the Canada Post Strike policy with UPS.

Be sure when you create the policy that you exclude PO Boxes which are under the same exclusion list that you use to exclude countries you don't ship to.

Keep in mind, you may have to do step 7+8 multiple times because eBay tends to bug out and fail to move a handful of listings to the new policy. Wait a few minutes after you do it the first time, and refresh the page.

If your current listings do not already have package weights/dimensions added, it is a lot trickier to switch to UPS. You don't want to use flat rates with UPS because the shipping rates can vary wildly for some areas. 9/10 places will be $20 for a parcel, and then a rural area might be $100. 

If your listings have some sort of specific text about shipping that is no longer relevant, I would not go and edit all your listings. You can use the batch editor and add a single sentence to the beginning of each listing that says something like "In the event of a Canada Post Strike, our shipping policies may differ from what is stated in the listing. Please contact us for more information if needed." Nobody reads the listings, but it probably doesn't hurt to have that. It's easy enough to remove one or two sentences with the batch editor later. 

[qwestsupply]

We have been using UPS for most shipments since the possibility of a strike was announced. We just shipped several heavier packages to various parts of the USA and Canada for cheaper than it would cost to ship via Canada Post. However, we sold a small item to a buyer in Sparwood, BC, and the shipping cost for a 322g in an 8x6x4 box sent via UPS is $106.31! FedEx is $85! Insane.

It seems like we will have to delist our smaller items until the strike issue has been resolved. Very unfortunate for us since we rely on the income from our eBay sales to cover our living costs 😞 

[needsmorerobots]

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@lotzofuniquegoodies wrote:

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@videotimeplus 

UPS might work for your more pricy listings. Not sure on lower value. You might want to pre-test using an assortment of postal & zipcodes to get an idea. For the quantity of listings you have you can use bulk edit to update. Do in smaller batches like 10 or 20. Would be less painless than 1 at a time. 

Personally I'm in a quandry. Right now it's between putting store on holiday or switching to in person home delivery. I guess if I go for home delivery I can write off gas, hotels and meals. Hope my customers can be patient until I get there? Anyone have a copy of Planes, Trains and Automobiles they want to "send" me for cheap??

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During your home delivery trips Lotz, there is one simple rule to know:

Never hog the pillows.

[zee-chan-jpn-books]

Guess I'll be ending my listings for now... If this article is true about lockout on Friday morning? 

My most recent US sale crossed the border today already  (mailed at noon) so I'm good.

https://cknewstoday.ca/chatham/news/2024/11/12/canadian-union-of-postal-workers-issues-72-hour-strik...

[fergua3]

the previous Christmas strike in 2018 began in mid October and was over by Nov 20 with back to work legislation.  This one isnt even beginning until about that same time frame  that the last one ended, so hopefully (hopefully) there wil be a rapid, ie less than a week, resolution to this one with gov't action to save a chunk of Christmas season.  The gov''t does seem in the mood these days for ending lockouts/strikes quickly.

Still can't believe this is happening.   In 24 years of selling online i don't recall ever having to hold on to packages i was shipping to another country because of a postal strike in that country, let alone hold on to them at Chrismtas time.  Seems to be only a Canadian tradition.

[38e_avenue]

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@fergua3 wrote:

The gov''t does seem in the mood these days for ending lockouts/strikes quickly.

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I spoke with a CP employee - they expect they will be forced to go back to work. 

However, I decided to close all my stores until late Friday. On Monday morning, I will decide if I print ChitChats or CP labels.