Canada Post workers are back — but trust issues remain

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After 32 days on strike, Canada Post employees have been ordered back to work starting Tuesday, just in time for the holidays — but the trust between consumers and small businesses has already been damaged, says Lisa Hutcheson, a retail expert and managing partner at J.C Williams Group.

“There is still going to be a trust factor,” said Hutcheson. “Canada Post is going to have a huge backlog, and it’s hard to know whether or not they’re going to be working at optimal capacity as they return to work.”

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Steven Mackinnon, the federal minister of labour, announced Friday that the government had asked the Canadian Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) to order Canada Post employees back to work.

They are to return under the terms of their existing contract, a contract that expired last year. The contract has been extended until May to allow for negotiation and bargaining processes to continue.

However, as of Dec. 6, it was estimated that 12-million parcels had been delayed since the onset of the strike that began Nov. 15, reported the Financial Post.

“Given the timing and duration of the strike, when our operations resume we will need to begin processing the mail and parcels trapped in our network,” said Canada Post, a Crown corporation, in a statement Monday. “It will take time to clear our network, so customers should expect delays in processing and delivery.”

Despite returning to work, Canada Post will be working at limited capacity until at least Thursday, with no drop-offs or pick-ups occurring, the Crown corporation said.

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“We’re committed to giving customers as much information as possible regarding specific timelines and capacity. This includes providing details on what to expect during the first few days and as we continue to stabilize operations,” Canada Post said.

But, Hutcheson says, customers and business — particularly small business — may have lost trust already and, despite the back-to-work order, this is likely to remain an issue.

“Most retailers look to Canada Post to fulfill online orders,” Hutcheson said.

While on the one hand, the strike caused millions of orders to be “stuck in a backlog in a warehouse waiting to be distributed, the other is that customers said ‘you know what, I don’t think I’m going to take the risk of not being able to get my purchase,’” Hutcheson said. “So, they may not have purchased and looked to a business where they could pick it up right away or a business that has different shipping options.”

Hutcheson said that with the strike, small businesses were finding it hard to fulfill orders and find alternatives as they’re the ones that rely most heavily on Canada Post; going to couriers is significantly more expensive than using Canada Post.

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“It’s a challenge for them because they don’t want to pass on the cost to the consumer. So, for many of them, it was dropping their margins,” Hutcheson explained.

On top of that, couriers such as FedEx or Canada Post subsidiary Purolator saw a surge in package volumes that many were not prepared for. Purlator now expects to handle more than 43 million packages in its peak season, “some of which is anticipated to be volume from those impacted by the Canada Post strike,” according to a statement made by Purlator on Nov. 20.

Faor many of them, it was dropping their margins

As a result, Purlator temporarily stopped accepting shipments in early December. The corporation was expected to process more than six million parcels between Dec. 1 and Dec. 7, according to the statement.

“We were two-to-three weeks in and the other couriers said ‘you know what, we can’t deal with the backlog,’” Hutcheson said. “Making that decision to pivot and use another courier option and have them come through and say ‘we’re not sure we can fulfill it because we have our own backlogs,’ again, was another strike against businesses trying to fulfill their orders.”

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Many Canadians are still trying to find alternatives this holiday season, despite the end of the strike, including Hutcheson herself.

Hutcheson says she usually sends gifts to her family out east, but the strike “made it much more difficult.”

“So I had to really rethink that,” said Hutcheson.“I have somebody that I typically ship a gift to, and this year I sent them a holiday floral bouquet from a local florist versus sending a gift.”

The estimated revenue loss to Canada Post as a result of the strike is $100 million, primarily due to cancellations in shipping orders and unprocessed parcels.

The strike has served as a lesson for many this holiday season to pay more attention to exactly how their parcels are being delivered versus solely considering the shipping price.

“Sometimes the customer assumes the delivery and just looks at the shipping costs to make their decision,” said Hutcheson. “But, I think now, understanding that they’ve been caught, they’ll be paying more attention to how it’s being shipped.”

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