Canada Post strike taking toll on P.E.I. businesses

Some businesses on P.E.I. are concerned about how the Canada Post strike is affecting holiday deliveries.

John Barrett, director of sales for Veseys Seeds Ltd., says sales are down because a quarter of a million freshly printed catalogues are sitting on a pallet, waiting to be mailed from a printing shop in Ottawa.

"I'm not too happy about the fact they're sitting there and that they're not working for us and our printer's probably not too crazy about the 50 or 60 pallets ... in their storage place, and we're not alone."

Barrett estimates pre-Christmas orders are down 90 per cent because of the lack of catalogues and it's unlikely the catalogues will reach anyone ahead of Christmas.

Back-to-work legislation

Thousands of unionized employees have been on rotating strikes for about five weeks. On Thursday, the federal government tabled back-to-work legislation for Canada Post workers.

The owner of Northern Watters Knitters in Charlottetown said his business has also beenhurt by the strike. Bill Watters said Mohair socks are a top seller at the store, but they have been harder to keep in stock because they are shipped from Ontario. Deliveries that usually take three days are taking a week and a half to arrive, he said.

"I know I'm out of two colours in a certain size for the men ... and those men want those two colours. And I can't get them, that's not good. What happens? That person walks out the door."

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