N.B. charities, small businesses worried about impact of postal strike

Some New Brunswickers say they could face major impacts from the Canada Post strike.

About 55,000 postal workers walked off the job Friday, shutting down Canada Post mail service across the country after their union, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, and the Crown corporation were unable to reach an agreement.

"It'll be pretty devastating," said Jane Buckley, chair of the District 3 food banks, coveringFredericton and a large swath of central and western New Brunswick.

"We do receive a very high percentage of our Christmas donations through the mail I'm guessing between 30 and 40 per cent," said Buckley.

Some of the factors behind that high rate are donors who are more comfortable paying by mail than electronically, as well as the rural nature of the district, meaning many would have to travel a distanceto make donations in person, she said.

Holiday donations make up 30 to 40 per cent of the funds that come in all year, said Buckley.

Donations were already down a bit this yearbecause donors are dealing with higher costs of living and have less disposable income, she said.

"We'll panic. We'll be sad. But we will advertise on social media that there are other ways to donate."

Those ways include direct banking e-transfers to the food bank by email and online payments through Canada Helps and other platforms, said Buckley.

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The food bank also has a booth that accepts donations once a month at a Sunday market in Oromocto.

Any charitable organization that conducts fundraisingthrough the mailat this time of year is facing similar challenges, said Buckley.

Women in Transition House, for example, does a mail-out Christmas campaign that is one of its biggest fundraisers of the year, according to a spokesperson for the group.

N.B. Lung receives more than 80 per cent of its donations through the mail and most come during the end-of-year giving season, according to fundraising and marketing manager Dusty Green.

And the Chalmers Hospital Foundation in Fredericton said its holiday mailer will not be able to go out until the strike is over.

Information Morning - Fredericton15:10Canada Post strike

A strike is never convenient,but a postal strike leading up to theholidays is terrible timing for some businesses and organizations.Jeanne Armstrong spoke toJane Buckley with theOromocto Food Bank,Natasha MacLellanwithTheatre New Brunswick, andKate Hunter who organizes the Etsy Christmas market.

Self-employed artisans and craftspeople are also expecting to take a big hit if the strike goes on for much longer.

"I'm just hearing stories of people just devastated right now," said Kate Hunter, who organizes an annual market at the Currie Center in Fredericton, coming up on Nov. 23-24.

A watercolour artist, for example, who spenta lot of money on getting greeting cards printed may notbe able to get them to customers. And customers aren't likely to buy them anyway, if they are unable to mail them to their friends and family for the holidays, said Hunter.

"This time of year is the bread and butter of Etsy sellers and the Etsy community," she said.

"We've got to get packages out."

People who make handmade products sell in small volumes and can't usually afford accounts with big courier companies, said Hunter. For them, Canada Post is usually the least expensive option, she said.

At least one company is offering to take packages across the border to get them into the U.S. postal system, but that comes at an extra cost and with a longer route. It requires sending the items by busto Halifax for sorting before transportation to Maine, said Hunter.

Making Canada Post 'viable'

A key issue in thetalks is wages. Canada Post has proposed wage hikes above inflation over four years. Itslatest contract offer included annual wage increases that totalled 11.5 per cent.It also offered protection of the defined benefit pension for current employees, as well as job security and health benefits.

"There has to be a way to make Canada Post viable. It's a very important service for many Canadians and many small businesses," said Stephanie Ross, a Bathurst native and associate professor of labour relations at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ont.

Its offer to increase wages by 11 per cent over four years is "below the average wage settlements that other workers have been getting. And it's certainly not going to help postal workers keep up with food prices, rents," she said.

Trouble has been brewing at Canada Post for some time, said Ross, and was fuelled during the pandemic, when online ordering and delivery saw a big increase in demand and competition.

But the pandemic also had a big effect on the way people think about their relationship to work, she said.

Many workers sacrificed a lot to keep the economy going and feel like the rewards of that sacrifice have been unequal, said Ross.

"When you see large corporations accumulating profits at the top and workers aren't able to keep up with their grocery bills, that creates a lot of tension," she said.

The federal government has appointed a mediator who is at the negotiating table with Canada Post and the union this week.