Holiday markets 'only chance' for some Winnipeg businesses to reach customers during postal strike

After a month on the picket lines, the strike by more than 55,000 Canada Post workers has put a dent in revenue for some small businesses who set up stands at winter markets this weekend in hopes they can reach more customers ahead of the holidays. 

"We can showcase all our products … this is our only chance to sell to them," said Shiella Lee, one of more than 140 vendors at the Luckygirl Holiday Pop-Up winter market at the Centennial Concert Hall 

The small business sells apparel with printed graphic designs through social media. But without Canada Post, Lee has had to put dozens of orders on hold or cancel them altogether — losing revenue at a key time of the year for sales. 

"It impacted [us] a lot, business is very slow almost to nothing," she said.

The fees charged by other couriers are "simply too expensive" for customers, Lee said, and without a permanent store location, the winter market is one of the few opportunities for the business to recoup the sales losses they have experienced so far this holiday season. 

"It brings us back to our regular customers … they know they couldn't get it through online, so they came here and picked it up," Lee said. 

On Friday, Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon announced he's sending the labour dispute between Canada Post and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers to the Canada Industrial Relations Board.

If the board determines negotiations between the parties are at an impasse, it has been directed to order striking CUPW members back to work as early as this week under the existing collective agreement until May 22, 2025.

But for more than 100 First Nation vendors selling their products at Pitâw Mīno Muskîkî market in Winnipeg, the Canada Post strike has already impacted their sales levels this year, said Shauna Fontaine, co-founder of the winter market.

"For the artisans, this is their bread and butter, this is what puts food on the table, supports their families and their economy," she said. 

The show of community support at the market poured in during the weekend, Fontaine said, with dozens filling the corridors of Via Rail Union Station on Sunday afternoon. 

She said the interest in local shopping is growing, and while the market gives customers a chance to meet the artisan behind the product, it also allows vendors to get their products sold without worrying about the constraints of mail delivery. 

"This is really, really critical for them, especially at this time of year," she said.