Possible Canada Post strike could cost P.E.I. businesses thousands

Some P.E.I. businesses say they will be out thousands of dollars, and possibly lose customers if Canada Post and its workers can't come to an agreement.

Canada Post and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers are in the midst of contract negotiations, and a legal strike or a lockout could happen as early as July 2.

Veseys Seeds has already switched to a courier service to send parcels, which costs three times as much, said the company'sJohn Barrett.

"You know it makes me furious that a Crown corporation can interrupt many, many businesses, but in particular our business," said Barrett. "We have 125,000 bulb catalogues scheduled to mail on the 12th of July and there is no alternative means of mailing these catalogues.

"And they will just sit there and rot. It's not as if you can just send them later, it could be a substantial dollar value of business lost, which of course has a trickle-down effect to staff and people we're depending upon to purchase from. It probably couldn't have come at a worse time."

Big hurt for small businesses

The P.E.I. chapter of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business saidmost small businesses use Canada Post for many services, including invoices and shipping goods.

Bohemian Findings in St. Peter's Bay has also switched to a courier service, which it saidwill end up costing its Canadian customers more, and it's worried that will lead to lost business.

CBC attempted to contact Canada Post, but has not received a response.

The key issues according to CUPW are wage parity between city and rural postal workers, and the restoration of door-to-door mail delivery.

"The public needs to know we do have their best interests in mind," said Suzie Moore, a spokeswoman for the union. "We are not only employees of Canada Post, but we are customers of Canada Post too."

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