COMMENT: Is the postal strike coming to town? And will we notice if it does?
By Rachel Selkirk
With much speculation about a nation-wide strike by Canada Post workers, union members continue to rotate 24-hour strikes in major Canadian cities.
Last night, Calgary and Edmonton postal workers began a 24-hour strike that will affect mail delivery and acceptance while workers picket the mail processing plants. Other 24-hour strikes have occurring in Moncton, Victoria, Winnipeg, Montreal and Hamilton.
It seems unlikely that Rossland will be chosen for a 24-hour city strike, but a national strike may not be far off. While Rossland has fought hard to keep its local post office, the question begs to be asked: will anyone be affected by a local postal strike?
Reliable mail service has been offered in Canada since 1775. It’s safe to say that before email, Canada Post services were a significant and crucial part of daily business and personal communication. Today, regular mail has taken a back seat to email and social media for most.
Local businesses rely mostly on couriers to send and receive products. A postal strike would mostly affect bills and other minor mail for many shops and services. While bills still need to be paid, most account balances can be checked and paid off online. Indeed, a strike will probably induce more of us to abandon paper billing for electronic on a permanent basis.
For the average person, a postal strike will have little individual impact. Important cheques from Canada Pension Plan and Old Age Security are not affected by the strike. While bills and personal mail will be affected, it seems unlikely a few days delay would seriously affect anyone.
Although mail remains easy and affordable, it’s difficult to think of a pressing scenario that couldn’t be solved with email or the rarely-used fax machine. The most urgent mail-related scenario I’ve come across lately is forgetting a cell phone charger on my last weekend getaway.
While the current strikes are affecting certain cities for only a day at a time, Canadians have already responded by mailing less. Since the first strike last week, Canadians are already mailing as little as half of what they usually do, a statistic that is hurting Canada Post more than its customers. Even without an impending strike, Canadian households are now mailing 17% less than they were five years ago.
If the trend continues, future Canada Post strikes may hardly be noticed at all.
How often do you use Canada Post? If the strike were to slow down or delay service how would it affect you?
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