Local Canada Post workers picket for 'fair contract' as part of nationwide strike

Thousands of Canada Post workers, including those in Saskatchewan, have gone on strike ahead of the busy Christmas season.

It comes after the National Postal Service and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers failed to reach a contract agreement, leaving mail users scrambling to find alternatives.

On Friday, dozens of postal workers walked the picket line outside the Regina post office as the nationwide strike began.

"We are looking for a fairly negotiated contract with Canada Post. We have been in negotiations with Canada Post for about one year right now,” Jeremy Thomas, president of CUPW Local 820 Regina, explained.

Picket lines were also established in other centres like Saskatoon. The union is asking for a compound wage increase of 24 per cent over four years while Canada Post is proposing 11.5 per cent.

"The negotiations have stalled thus far, and we are taking a stand to say we want a negotiated contract, a fair contract,” Brahm Enslin, president of CUPW Local 824 Saskatoon, said.

It has left businesses scrambling to find delivery alternatives. Zoe Shoes is in the midst of a move to a storefront location in Regina's Cathedral neighbourhood and has been relying heavily on Canada Post for online orders.

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“She's going to have a lot more walk-in traffic but where she was in the past since COVID, the walk-in traffic has basically ground to minimum so most of her business was online and Canada Post was how she shipped,” Merv Armstrong said.

Next door, Filigree Chocolaterie is switching from the post office to a courier service for customer deliveries.

"Everything in the business is Canada Post. It's our main shipping provider so with the strike, we are deciding to go with a different provider right now,” Jeremy Simes said.

It's the busiest time of the year for many vendors at this weekend's Best To You Handmade Market in Regina. Many rely heavily on the post office for out of town deliveries.

"When I am getting to those orders, especially at Christmas time, I will probably notice that it's going to be a little bit of a hassle, the strike, but as of now lots of local business so people are buying in person or online and I am delivering,” Artist Eli Barsi said.

"I have one going to Winnipeg, so I am going to have to reroute that one I guess. I am going to have to think of some other way of getting it there so UPS maybe is going to be busy but we're going to have to go that way,” another artist, Roland Daum said.

The federal government imposed binding arbitration for recent rail and port lockouts but has not indicated whether that option is being considered for the postal strike.