With holiday shopping on the horizon and Canada Post mail carriers on strike, Waterdown business owners are looking for ways to get their goods out.
About 55,000 mail carriers with Canada Post have been on the picket line since Friday, halting mail delivery across the country.
Waterdown’s post office is open during the strike, but its clerks cannot accept any mail. According to an email from Canada Post, offices like the one in Waterdown are still offering MoneyGram, money orders, prepaid reloadable cards and e-vouchers, but all parcel and mail deliveries are on hold.
The strike has “shut down operations across the country during the critical holiday period, negatively impacting small businesses, charities and remote communities,” Canada Post said in a statement.
Orders from Waterdown business in limbo
Marnie Mycroft, owner of Waterdown’s Pickwick Books, said she doesn’t sell her books online, but the strike has impacted her monthly book box subscriptions.
“People buy them online and they can choose a monthly or a bimonthly subscription box, where they determine what genres they like to receive and then I pick out the books for them,” she said.
When the strike began, Mycroft had just sent out four subscription boxes. Those orders have been left in limbo.
She said she has put up a notice on her website and reached out to customers who have requested a box since then. Right now, she is offering local pick ups for the boxes, but some of her customer orders come from as far away as Swan River, Manitoba.
“I get orders all across Canada,” she said.
Mycroft said she hasn’t looked into using a courier service, like UPS or Puralator, and said she is wary of the cost, considering the weight of her packages.
“I ship books. It’s not just an envelope here and there, it's actual boxes of books that can be heavier than your standard mail packages,” she said.
While Pickwick Books doesn't offer online shopping, Mycroft said customers often purchase book box subscriptions as a gift. With Christmas shopping around the corner, Mycroft says she hopes the strike will end soon.
Another Waterdown business, Rustic Daisy's, is having a different issue.
Owner Cat McCrimmon runs the shop in Waterdown, but says she uses a website that gives her the lowest shipping rate, which she said is often through UPS for her business. She said the majority of her customers shop in-store, because of the variety of things she stocks.
But she said the strike has made it more difficult for her vendors, who often use flat rate shipping through Canada Post, to mail their items to the shop.
“I've had to help them and show them the program I use to then facilitate bigger parcels,” she said.
Charities unable to receive donations by mail
It isn’t just businesses struggling with the strike.
Flamborough Connects executive director, Colleen Stinson, says the strike may make it more difficult for the non-profit to receive donations.
“We will not be able to send out donation letters by mail and we get a number of donations mailed to us every year,” she said, adding that the group relies on donations to be able to offer its programs free of charge.
Stinson said the group will not be able to send out thank you cards or mail tax receipts while the strike is ongoing.
Flamborough Connects can accept donations through its website or by e-transfer, for those who are more tech savvy. With Giving Tuesday coming up on Dec. 3, Stinson said she hopes people will still be able to donate.
