The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) is urging the federal government to immediately end the Canada Post strike.
“The government’s announced reforms to modernize Canada Post are long overdue and desperately needed. It is extremely disappointing that the union has chosen to punish Canada Post’s remaining customers rather than work with the corporation and government on a plan to implement the critical changes needed to make the postal service viable,” said Dan Kelly, CFIB president.
“Ottawa must step in immediately to end the strike and push forward with the announced reforms.”
Last year’s strike, which lasted from November 15 to December 17, cost small businesses over $1 billion, said the CFIB.
According to CFIB data, 13% of small businesses have stopped using Canada Post since the last strike. Nearly two-thirds said they would do the same if there’s another strike.
“Small businesses are one of the last groups of profitable customers for Canada Post. Every time there is a service disruption, more and more businesses leave Canada Post for good. The strike will make the job of saving Canada Post much more difficult,” said Kelly.
CFIB said its Business Helpline is receiving many frantic calls from business owners concerned about the return to strike action. These include:
• A native plant nursery in Alberta has live plants in the mail that will die before they reach their destination. The company says it will have to replace the products and reship them at a more expensive rate.
• A print shop in British Columbia has seen its revenue evaporate with no way to get its products to customers and no viable option to move greeting cards, small art prints or cultural goods by freight.
• A dairy farm in Ontario has moved most of its payments online after the last strike but currently has a cheque worth thousands of dollars delayed in the mail.
• An architecture firm in Alberta that relies on Canada Post for 85% of its accounts receivables and payables is concerned about paying consultants, tradespeople and staff while cheques are delayed in the mail.
“It’s been a tough year for small business owners, with rising costs and massive uncertainty over trade, and so we desperately need some stability as we begin the critical holiday shopping season,” said Corinne Pohlmann, executive vice-president of advocacy at CFIB. “We urge the federal government to quickly step in and ensure Canada Post workers are back on the job, so businesses can count on reliable services while reforms are being implemented.”
Small business owners impacted by Canada Post strike are encouraged to share their stories by visiting cfib.ca.
The CFIB is Canada’s largest association of small and medium-sized businesses with 100,000 members across every industry and region.
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I encourage a boycott of Purolator Courier as Canada Post holds over 90% of the company shares. It’s shameful that a bloated negative revenue crown corporation also owns a private courier company who turns a bigger profit when the posties go on strike.