Canada Post disruption expected to have low consumer impact
Posted August 27, 2016 1:08 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Fears of Canada-wide postal disruption have been looming for months, and they’re set to become a reality on Monday.
But according to Consumer’s Association of Canada President Bruce Cran, the average consumer likely won’t notice much of a difference.
Cran argues that because a possible mail stoppage has been looming for months, people have had plenty of time to seek out alternatives to the postal service; online banking for example.
“Consumers can well protect themselves in other manners, and that’s exactly what we’ve laid in place,” he says, “and I don’t think it’s going to make to dog-gone much difference to us.”
Cran adds Canada Post and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) aren’t doing themselves any favours by keeping their customers uncertain.
“The sad problem here is, if the post office is going to go on strike, I don’t think people will be very much inconvenienced, and they won’t be missed as much as maybe they were once.”
Small businesses, who will be among the most impacted by a postal disruption, are also seeking out alternatives to Canada Post, according to the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB).
CFIB president Dan Kelly predicts many business owners will not return to Canada Post once alternatives are set up.
CUPW issued a 72-hour strike notice Thursday, but it’s still not clear exactly how service would be disrupted, if at all.
