Many small businesses want Canada Post staff forced back to work: CFIB

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The two-week-old Canada Post strike is costing Canadian small businesses $76 million daily, according to the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), which predicts the total hit will reach $1 billion by Wednesday.

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Not surprisingly, the CFIB says polling found 69% of small business owners want the government to introduce back-to-work legislation.

“It’s not the Grinch who is about to steal Christmas. It’s Ottawa sitting idly on the sidelines while small businesses are losing crucial revenue and sales due to circumstances outside of their control,” said CFIB spokesperson Corinne Pohlmann.

“The Labour Minister (Steven MacKinnon) recently said mediation talks have been suspended because the two parties remain too far apart to reach a deal and that a long labour conflict is a possibility, but he is the one who has the power to put an end to this mess.”

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The CFIB says the strike has negatively impacted three-quarters of small businesses and of those, 41% have reported the labour action has cost them $2,000 in lost orders, higher prices for delivery alternatives, and they are dealing with late payments and the inability to promote their enterprises.

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CFIB is urging Ottawa to immediately intervene and impose binding arbitration or introduce back-to-work legislation to salvage some of the critical holiday shopping season.

“Small firms have already missed the most important sales weekend of the year, with Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday. If the strike isn’t settled this week, Canada Post will not be a player for the entire holiday season given the backlog it will have to sort through before taking on new business,” said Pohlmann.

The CFIB’s online active poll, which has been operating since Nov. 26, based its finding on 3,813 responses,  with a probability sample of the same size having a margin of error of 1.6%, 19 times out of 20.

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