Canada Post strike enters week 4 as small business workarounds dry up

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Businesses are being hammered as the Canada Post strike nears its fourth week, but some are finding ways to make sure their products get into people’s hands during the holiday rush even though it has not been easy.

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Earlier this week, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) said the prolonged labour dispute, which began on Nov. 15, had cost small- and medium-sized businesses more than $1 billion.

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Derek Antonio, owner of Pop Music in Toronto, has shipped about 5,000 records across the country through United Parcel Service Inc. (UPS) and Purolator Inc. Half the store’s revenue comes from online sales, most often shipped by Canada Post.

A day after the Crown corporation strike began, he signed up with ShipStation, a courier middleman operated by Auctane Inc., that hooked his business up with the two courier services at a discounted rate.

“It’s still costing us thousands of dollars more, but fans rely on us to get them the records they want for the season,” he said.

Antonio said the transition was working well until a couple of days ago when UPS stopped picking up packages and Purolator halted the majority of his orders.

“We’re doing our best to communicate with our clients to make sure they know we’re experiencing these delays and, ultimately, it’s out of our control,” he said.

Antonio said he has about 1,000 records ready waiting to be shipped.

Purolator and UPS have paused shipments from some courier companies as they try to work through a deluge of deliveries brought on by the Canada Post strike.

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Purolator said severe weather and a surge in package volumes prompted it to freeze service for some partners, citing the need to “prioritize critical shipments.”

Couriers such as Canada Worldwide Inc. (doing business as eShipper), which act as middlemen between smaller e-commerce businesses and large carriers, are among those temporarily barred from shipping with Purolator and UPS.

A notice sent from eShipper to clients and obtained by Canadian Press said “no shipments will be processed or moved by these carriers” for 48 hours starting Wednesday.

Simon Paquin, Montreal-based cookie maker Félix & Norton’s chief operating officer, said the cargo halt and broader postal strike fallout could cost the company its “whole holiday season.”

Canada Post on Thursday said it was reviewing new counterproposals submitted by the union representing more than 55,000 postal employees.

Antonio supports the striking Canada Post workers, but he’s also anxious to see a deal done. He also wants UPS and Purolator to be clear about when business will return to normal.

“If we start getting cancellation orders that affects my December in a huge way, that means extra inventory and less money to buy new inventory,” he said.

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Nadin Dajani, owner of Splurge Boutique in downtown Halifax, said she’s already stopped doing online orders.

Usually, she’d ship about 10 orders a week, but she said the business was left with little profit margin due to the cost of shipping. That’s one reason she decided to go from selling online to opening up her shop in one of the city’s main shopping districts.

“I think most people prefer to come into stores to buy their clothing,” she said on Thursday as she dealt with a rush of customers.

But Dajani has also been touched by the work stoppage. Some merchandise she ordered for Christmas is stuck in limbo.

“That’s the only thing that has really hindered me,” she said.

The strike has also hit independent book outlets, such as Schooner Books, a few blocks away from Splurge Boutique. It sells used and antiquarian books, and about 50 per cent of its revenue comes from online sales to customers across Atlantic Canada.

Mary Lee MacDonald, who co-owns the business with her partner, John Townsend, said that because it’s such a small operation, it doesn’t make financial sense to courier the orders.

“It’s one thing after another; the question is what will end up taking you down,” she said. “We simply can’t afford another way of shipping, so this strike will very much affect us if it goes on much longer.”

• Email: arankin@postmedia.com

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