preparing for a possible Canada Post disruption - news thread

[#1]

As you know, there is again a possibility of a labour dispute at Canada Post this fall, since they never resolved anything last time.
https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2018/07/12/canada-post-hellbent-on-labour-dispute-as-talks-continue-union-president-says.html

Since it has been two years since I last updated the Canada shipping alternatives thread:
https://www.etsy.com/teams/7654/etsy-international/discuss/17821085/page/6?post_id=355555017

if people know of new options, please post them here. I know ChitChats has expanded (and is going to be opening in Calgary soon) but there may be other options I don't know about yet. I'd like to have everything in one place as a reference, should the situation get bad.

[cindylouwho2]

Current list of striking locals:

Brandon (MB)
Fraser Valley West (BC)
ÎIes-de-la-Madeleine (QC)
Lloydminster (SK)
Montreal (QC)
Oshawa (ON)
Peterborough (ON)
Pickering Facility of Scarborough Local (ON)
Prince George (BC)
Royal City (BC)
Squamish (BC)
Thunder Bay (ON)
Upper Valley (BC)
Winnipeg (MB)

I will be on the road tomorrow, but will try to update before we check out in the morning.

[cindylouwho2]

current list of locals on strike:

Cobourg (ON)
Columbia River (BC)
Dawson Creek (BC)
Fort Frances (ON)
Fort Nelson (BC)
Fort St. John (BC)
Kapuskasing (ON)
Kenora (ON)
Montreal (QC)
Moose Jaw (SK)
Nelson (BC)
Petawawa-Deep River (ON)
Peterborough (ON)
Prince George (BC)
Saskatoon (SK)
Tri Town (ON)
Weyburn (SK)

[EightMileVintage]

The list is getting longer. I hope they don't switch to a full blown strike.

[cindylouwho2]

here is the current list:

Charlottetown (PE) as of 12:01am AT, Oct 31
Cobourg (ON)
Columbia River (BC)
Dawson Creek (BC)
Fort Frances (ON)
Fort Nelson (BC)
Fort St. John (BC)
Joliette (QC) as of 1am ET, Oct 31
Kapuskasing (ON)
Kenora (ON)
Moose Jaw (SK)
Nelson (BC)
Petawawa-Deep River (ON)
Peterborough (ON)
Saskatoon (SK)
Summerside (PE) as of 12:01am AT, Oct 31
Tri Town (ON)
Weyburn (SK)

[cindylouwho2]

Here is the current list:
Arnprior-Renfrew (ON) as of 6am ET, Oct 31
Campbell River (BC) as of 9am PT, Oct 31
Charlottetown (PE) as of 12:01am AT, Oct 31
Courtenay (BC) as of 8am PT, Oct 31
Joliette (QC) as of 1am ET, Oct 31
Nanaimo (BC) as of 6am PT, Oct 31
Ottawa (ON) as of 6am ET, Oct 31
Port Alberni (BC) as of 7am PT, Oct 31
Sorel (QC) as of 7am ET, Oct 31
St-Jean (QC) as of 7am ET, Oct 31
St-Jérôme (QC) as of 6:30am ET, Oct 31
Ste-Thérèse de Blainville (QC) as of 7:30am ET, Oct 31
Summerside (PE) as of 12:01am AT, Oct 31
Valleyfield (QC) as of 7am ET, Oct 31
Vaudreuil-Dorion (QC) as of 7am ET, Oct 31

significant changes include Ottawa striking & Montreal going back to work.


Also, Canada Post now says they are backed up across the country at major hubs:
https://www.canadapost.ca/web/en/comm/details.page?article=2018/10/31/escalating_strikes_c&cattype=s...

[herflyinghorses]

Etsy released an update in the announcement section today which is incorrect. I have a bunch of orders I placed that have been delayed.

"While rotating strikes in select cities across Canada have been in effect since October 22, Etsy continues business as usual, and we ask our sellers to do the same. Delivery times for current orders placed on Etsy from shoppers in affected Canadian regions have seen no major delays."

[cindylouwho2]

Yeah, some of the things I sent with tracking are not moving as quickly as usual, and Canada Post admits they are backed up.

With the union refusing overtime as of tomorrow, this is only going to get worse.

[cindylouwho2]

current strike locations:

Hamilton (ON)
La Mauricie (QC)
North Bay (ON)
Ottawa (ON)
Outaouais-Québécois (QC)
Regina (SK)

[bookbinetc]

I'm in BC and I don't really know what route our US mail goes through. If through Richmond, I'm not worried yet.

On the other hand, I might just vacation my shops to avoid any potential hassles. I have enough going on offline right now to keep me plenty busy.

Thanks for the updates, Cindy.

[cindylouwho2]

this morning's strike locations:

Bois Francs (QC) as of 7am ET, Nov 2
Grande Prairie (AB) as of 8am MT, Nov 2
Hamilton (ON)
Kitchener-Waterloo (ON) as of 12:01am ET, Nov 2
Moncton (NB)
Regina (SK)
Sault Ste Marie (ON) as of 8:30am ET, Nov 2
St. John's (NL) as of 8am NT, Nov 2
Timmins (ON) as of 8am ET, Nov 2

[cindylouwho2]

Hamilton & Regina are back to work; the following are still on strike:

Bois Francs (QC)
Grande Prairie (AB)
Kitchener-Waterloo (ON)
Moncton (NB)
Sault Ste Marie (ON)
St. John's (NL)
Timmins (ON)

[StudioMilika]

Just passing by to say thank you Cindy :) Very useful city lists!

[cindylouwho2]

Current strike locations:

Bois Francs (QC)
Moncton (NB)
Sault Ste Marie (ON)

A bit odd that they are slowing down over the weekend; I expect there may be more announcements later today or very early tomorrow.

[cindylouwho2]

And they have definitely ramped it up now - lots of NL & Ontario cities added:

All depots of Scarborough except Pickering (ON) as of 6pm ET, Nov 4
Barrie (ON) as of 11:30pm ET, Nov 4
Bois Francs (QC)
Brantford (ON) as of 12:01am ET, Nov 5
Carbonear (NL) as of 12:01am NT, Nov 5
Deer Lake (NL) as of 12:01am NT, Nov 5
Exploits Valley (NL) as of 12:01am NT, Nov 5
Fort Erie (ON) as of 12:01am ET, Nov 5
Gander-Lewisporte (NL) as of 12:01am NT, Nov 5
Guelph (ON) as of 12:01am ET, Nov 5
London (ON) as of 10pm ET, Nov 4
Moncton (NB)
Sault Ste Marie (ON)
Simcoe (ON) as of 12:01am ET, Nov 5
St. Anthony (NL) as of 12:01am NT, Nov 5
St. Catharines (ON) as of 12:01am ET, Nov 5
Stephenville (NL) as of 12:01am NT, Nov 5
Welland (ON) as of 12:01am ET, Nov 5
York Distribution Center of Scarborough (ON) as of 3pm ET, Nov 4

[cindylouwho2]

And major cities in Alberta were added this morning:

All depots of Scarborough except Pickering (ON)
Barrie (ON)
Brantford (ON)
Calgary (AB) as of 8am MT, Nov 5
Carbonear (NL)
Channel-Port-Aux-Basques (NL)
Corner Brook (NL)
Deer Lake (NL)
Edmonton (AB) as of 8am MT, Nov 5
Exploits Valley (NL)
Fort Erie (ON)
Gander-Lewisporte (NL)
Guelph (ON)
Lethbridge (AB) as of 8am MT, Nov 5
London (ON)
Medicine Hat (AB) as of 8am MT, Nov 5
Sault Ste Marie (ON)
Simcoe (ON)
St. Anthony (NL)
St. Catharines (ON)
Stephenville (NL)
Welland (ON)
York Distribution Center of Scarborough (ON)


Note that they are now repeating cities; Calgary was one of the first strike locations a few weeks ago.

[bookbinetc]

Do you think they are heading to all-out war?

I have a parcel to ship to Drumbo, ON, west of Hamilton. It's something I sold on Kijiji and the buyer paid with Interac, so naturally he's concerned about his money and purchase. I hope to send it today or tomorrow.

I guess if they have a lockout or strike, it will just sit somewhere for the duration. That's okay with me, if it's okay with the buyer.

[cindylouwho2]

I do not know how to predict what will happen next. In 2011, Canada Post said that mail volumes dropped a huge amount due to customer uncertainty over the strikes, so that is why they locked out the union after 11 days of rotating strikes. This time, Canada Post is claiming massive backlogs, and we are now in week 3. I guess they will lock the union out once they run out of storage space?

I don't expect to see the union backing down much; they had a very large strike mandate.

Last Wednesday afternoon I shipped an Xpresspost to Sydney NS & a Priority envelope to Ottawa. In usual circumstances, both would have arrived Friday (although occasionally they take an extra day), and both arrived today. Ottawa was on strike the day I shipped. So while there will be slowdowns, some mail is still moving.

[bookbinetc]

Thanks, Cindy. I've had good luck so far, but most of my Canadian parcels have gone within BC. I did send one Xpress to MB and it went out Thurs and delivered Monday, so I can't complain. That one was 2 weeks ago, though.

[cindylouwho2]

the current list midday:

Amherstburg (ON)
Barrie (ON)
Delhi (ON)
Hautes Laurentides (QC)
La Sarre (QC)
London (ON)
Mont-Joli (QC)
Newmarket (ON)
Owen Sound (ON)
Rouyn-Noranda (QC)
Saguenay Lac St-Jean (QC)
Sarina (ON)
Scarborough (ON) - All depots
Scarborough (ON) - York Distribution Center
St. Thomas (ON)
Val d'Or (QC)

[TigersandDragons]

I'm pretty frustated because I had a supplies order from Calgary sent Xpresspost on Friday that should of arrived on Monday in Winnipeg - as it's a one day service standard between the two postal codes.

The delivery date just keeps getting pushed farther and farther when Monday was the only striking day in areas that should affect service.
I thought I had built in enough "buffer" days in case of strikes, but apparently it wasn't enough....the parcel will arrive when I'm out of town, too late to meet my immediate needs.

Guess CP is not putting any of these Xpressposts to the forefront of the backlog of mail.
I'm not irritated at the striking workers, I'm angry at Canada Post for letting it get to this point so that it affects the busiest time of year. They've had years to work this out with the union.

[cindylouwho2]

ugh, that sucks. Since the union isn't working any overtime now, & since CP apparently uses a lot of overtime, that's got to affect every area, I would think.

[cindylouwho2]

here is your latest list of striking locals:
Chatham (ON)
Clinton (ON)
Georgetown (ON)
La Sarre (QC)
Milton (ON)
Newmarket (ON)
Orangeville (ON)
Port Hope (ON)
Quebec (QC)
Rouyn-Noranda (QC)
Stratford (ON)
Strathroy (ON)
Tillsonburg (ON)
Toronto (ON) Gateway, SCLPP, WPDH, VISTA, AMF, NECF, 300 Courtney Park, Gateway (West Trans and South Trans) , Kestrel and Bradco
Val d'Or (QC)
Wingham (ON)
Woodstock (ON)

[cindylouwho2]

this morning's strike locations:

Acadie Bathurst (NB)
Belleville (ON)
Brockville (ON)
Campbellton (NB)
Chatham (ON)
Clinton (ON)
Cornwall (ON)
Edmundston (NB)
Fredericton (NB)
Georgetown (ON)
Haut-du-Lac (QC)
Kingston (ON)
Lindsay (ON)
Milton (ON)
Miramichi (NB)
Newmarket (ON)
Orangeville (ON)
Port Hope (ON)
Quebec (QC)
St. Stephen (NB)
Stratford (ON)
Strathroy (ON)
Tillsonburg (ON)
Toronto (ON) Gateway, SCLPP, WPDH, VISTA, AMF, NECF, 300 Courtney Park, Gateway (West Trans and South Trans) , Kestrel and Bradco
Wingham (ON)
Woodstock (NB)
Woodstock (ON)


my partner dropped my mail at the outlet this morning, & the owner said that he's hearing rumblings from carriers that a nationwide strike might happen next week. Of course, that is just a rumour.

[bookbinetc]

I think I'll just put my shops on vac. mode. I have enough to do without hassles and right now, I have no orders in transit, except for a Kijiji sale. He was warned before shipping though.

[cindylouwho2]

today's strike locations, Thursday Nov 8:

Annapolis Valley (NS)
Antigonish (NS)
Baie-Comeau (QC)
Brantford (ON)
Breton (NS)
Bridgewater (NS)
Chibougamau (QC)
Côte Nord (QC)
Cranbrook (BC)
Cumberland (NS)
Farnham (QC)
Guelph (ON)
Kamloops (BC)
Liverpool (NS)
Matane (QC)
Midland (ON)
New Glasgow (NS)
Orillia (ON)
Oshawa (ON)
Parry Sound (ON)
Penticton (BC)
Pictou (NS)
Port Hawkesbury (NS)
Quesnel (BC)
Rivière-du-Loup (QC)
St-Hyacinthe (QC)
Thetford Mines (QC)
Truro (NS)
Vernon (BC)
Williams Lake (BC)
Yarmouth (NS)