Canadian business advocates warn of ‘disastrous’ effects of coinciding postal, port workers strikes

With potential strikes at the Port of Vancouver on Monday and Canada Post on Sunday, business advocates are sounding the alarm.

On Thursday, the union representing about 700 port workers issued a 72-hour strike notice. In response, the BC Maritime Employers Association issued a lockout notice starting Monday morning. The union called the threat of a full-scale lockout an overreaction, saying workers only planned limited job action, including an overtime ban.

Meanwhile, postal workers have voted in favour of a strike if conversations at the bargaining table with Canada Post don’t progress before Nov. 3.

Bridgitte Anderson, the president and CEO of the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade, says the work stoppages are something businesses and residents simply can’t afford. 

“About $800 million of goods go through the port every day, and this comes at a time where a lot of retailers are gearing up for the holiday season — any shutdown of the port would impact goods across every industry and every sector,” said Anderson.

Anderson says she hopes the government intervenes before another event like the 13-day strike that froze billions of dollars in trade at the docks in July last year.

In a statement to CityNews the Office of Federal Labour Minister Steve MacKinnon said, “Parties must do all the necessary work to reach an agreement. Negotiated agreements are always the best way forward. Federal mediators and Minister MacKinnon continue to monitor the situation closely.” 

Dan Kelly, Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) President, says the coincidence of the two potential strikes could mean even more bad news for the economy.

“These are really, really critical times, and to have major transportation networks just knocked out with goods trapped in the system, that can be disastrous,” said Kelly.

“If you’re counting on some goods to get to your shelves to make your year, this is just nuts.”

He says the Canada Post strike is a problem as it moves money through paper invoices and cheques in the mail, which leads to cash becoming “frozen.”

He adds Canada Post is a major player in e-commerce shipping, which would impact deliveries of items for online holiday shoppers. 

It comes at a time where Kelly says businesses have already been dealing with challenging times. Many, he says, are right at the “end of their rope.”

“They have taken on as much debt as they can handle. They’re counting on a good holiday season to keep the lights on.”

—With files from Cole Schisler and Sonia Aslam