Cape Breton business, organizations prepare for possible postal strike

Cape Breton businesses and organizations are getting ready in the event of a Canada Post strike that could start Friday morning.

Tracy Stubbard, owner of Tracy's Rolling Yarn Shop in Sydney, N.S., said she doesn't do a lot of online sales, but she does use the mail system to deliver knitting supplies to a number of customers.

"I usually try to squish as much into a flat-rate box as I can, but I mean, if it's just one skein, it's kind of hard to justify paying $30 for the skein and $17 to ship, so I unravel and squish it into an envelope so it gets shipped like a letter," she said.

Stubbard runs a mobile business taking supplies to customers across Nova Scotia and New Brunswick and sets up at the cruise terminal when a ship is in.

She also just opened a shop on Charlotte Street and said there are plenty of cruise passengers who want to buy quality hand-dyed yarns featuring local colours, such as the Nova Scotia and Cape Breton tartans, and have it mailed home to save on luggage space.

Stubbard said she spends about $2,000 a year on shipping through the Canada Post outlet in Dominion, where she lives, and she's hoping there won't be a strike.

Strike possible Friday

"The ladies that work at the post office in Dominion have been very kind to me since I started my business and I hate to see them be without a job," Stubbard said.

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW), representing about 55,000 employees, has said members could walk off the job Friday unless the union sees movement on demands that include better pay and details around weekend work, among other things.

Canada Post presented CUPW with a new offer this week, but union officials have asked for time to review the details.

Stubbard occasionally used private courier services during the 32-day strike last winter, but she said it cost more and meant driving from Dominion into Sydney.

She will do that again, but hopes it won't be necessary.

"It's definitely an inconvenience. It's just so easy to go through Canada Post," Stubbard said.

A postal strike will also affect the Cape Breton Regional Library, said librarian Lisa Mulak.

The library has an online program that anyone in Nova Scotia can access to borrow a book or other item.

With the second-largest collection in the province, the Cape Breton library mails out about 7,000 pieces a month, mostly on the mainland outside Halifax.

If there's a strike, that service will be suspended, Mulak said.

Postal service 'excellent,' librarian says

Canada Post offers libraries a discounted book rate to help make materials available to smaller communities that don't have a library or for people who can't otherwise get to a library branch in person.

Mulak said the Cape Breton library has a great relationship with the postal service.

"It's been an excellent service for us and we're hopeful that things are resolved quickly," she said.

Cape Breton Regional Municipality still sends and receives cheques through the mail and uses the mail system for other administrative tasks, including sending out tax and water utility bills.

"It's definitely a challenge when the postal system is not working," said spokesperson Christina Lamey.

CBRM's water bills for some customers will be affected right away, because the municipal website is not yet set up for online billing and payments. Others may not be affected until their billing cycle comes around in the coming months.

Lamey said if there's a strike, residents are being urged to contact 311, either on the website or by phone, to get their water bill and information on how to pay it.