By Michael Joel-Hansen

Private courier seeing increased business during Canada Post strife

Nov 15, 2018 | 3:39 PM

Canada Post is still dealing with rotating strikes as the company and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) have not been able to come to a decision on a new collective agreement.

While Prince Albert has not been directly affected by the labour disruptions, Elise Hildebrandt CEO of the Prince Albert and District Chamber of Commerce said businesses which are looking to ship things in Canada do face some uncertainty.

“It causes a little bit of concern when you’ve got to send some of your bills and cheques across the country,” she said.

The chamber’s CEO said she has not heard any direct complaints from members about the disruptions having an effect on them. She added companies looking to avoid having their shipments tied up as a result of the issues at Canada Post do have other options.

“Thankfully we have amazing companies like our local UPS Store that can help us, if you need to send something out they would definitely have the ability,” said Hildebrandt.

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Bill Chow, co-owns the local UPS Store in Prince Albert. He said since the rotating strikes have begun they have seen an increase in business.

“Some people become uncertain … we’ve seen an increase in envelopes that would probably go through Canada Post,” he said.

Along with envelopes, Chow explained that as online shopping has picked up with the holiday season approaching, they’ve seen some other increases as well.

“A lot of (the) corporate world are shipping parcels through UPS to get their deliveries done,” he said.

Overall Chow said much of the increased business has been to ship parcels which are time sensitive. Looking forward, Chow said it would be nice if they were able to pick some more regular business even after the labour issues are resolved, but added that is ultimately up to the customers.  

“People make their choices based on service,” he said.

MichaelJoel.Hansen@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @mjhskcdn