Striking Canada Post workers in London say '20 km long' routes not sustainable

Canada Post employees in London were walking the picket lines Friday morning as the impact of their strike began to settle in on organizations that rely on the service.

Members of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) local 566 set up pickets outside the letter and package processing facility building on Highbury Avenue, and a second line near the corner of Wellington and Commissioners roads just after midnight.

They are some of the 55,000 Canada Post workers across the country who want to see changes to wages, benefits and working conditions. 

"Our carriers are now delivering routes over 20 km long and this is just not sustainable on the human body," said Kimberly Rouble, the president of CUPW local 566.

"We're also juggling multi-bundles within our hands," Rouble said. "You can't see where you're going, which not only increases injuries but the severity of the injuries."

Canada Post's latest contract offer included annual wage increases of 11.5 per cent over four years, but union members say this is not enough.

"The corporation's offer is not sustainable," Rouble said. "It will not, over the four years, meet the rate of inflation."

Canada Post will shut down its operations during the strike, affecting millions of Canadians and businesses, the company said in a statement. This means mail and parcels will not be delivered during the strike, no new items will be accepted and some post offices will be closed. 

Once operations resume, the company said it will deliver mail as quickly as possible but said Canadians should expect delays. 

Although union members are on strike, Rouble said that both sides are still at the bargaining table.

"We are just kind of at an impasse," she said. 

Local businesses find shipping alternatives

The strike comes ahead of Black Friday and the holiday season, forcing some London businesses to change their product shipping model. 

"It's going to be a bit of a scramble," said Daniel Phillips, owner of Illbury + Goose, which uses Canada Post to ship items locally and across the country.

"We launched our Black Friday [Wednesday night] and we've got orders all packed up today going out to anywhere from the middle of rural BC to Quebec to Toronto," Phillips said. "It's like, 'What do we do here?'"

Phillips said third-party delivery companies have been reaching out to him since talks of the Canada Post strike started, but he said making the switch can be complicated. The last time Canada Post went on strike, Phillips said alternative carriers asked him to sign up for new accounts or guarantee that he would stay with the company. 

City of London contingency plans

Meantime, the City of London said Friday morning it is still expecting all tax instalment payments to be submitted on time by homeowners. It issued a list of payment options and contingency plans for everything from taxes to picking up Ontario Works cheques. 

In most cases, people are being directed to city hall to make in-person payments, however the complete list is available here, or on the city's website. 

The strike is less of a challenge for Kevin Swalwell, who stopped using Canada Post for most of his company's shipping years ago.

"It's really not a big deal for me me because for 99 per cent of addresses in this country, other providers will service at a cheaper country rate," said Swalwell, who owns Purple Moose Sock Company. 

Swalwell said he only uses Canada Post to ship to customers with a Canada Post P.O. box, which only accepts packages from its own company. He stopped accepting orders to these boxes a week ago. 

"Since I figured a labour disruption was coming up, it was best to protect the customer," Swalwell said.

Rouble said Canada Post workers want to get back to their jobs ahead of the holiday rush. 

"We don't want to be on the picket line," Rouble said. "We want to be back at work delivering the mail or parcels, especially during our peak season."