Canada Post workers hit the picket lines in Ottawa

Small businesses in Ottawa that rely on Canada Post are facing another period of uncertainty with the latest strike. CTV’s Camille Wilson reports.

Canada Post workers across the country are on the picket lines for the second time in just over a year, grinding mail service to a halt.

The strike began just hours after the government announced sweeping changes to mail delivery. The job action means no new mail will be processed or delivered, with some post offices remaining closed.

Canada Post workers like David Jesion hit the picket line in Ottawa.

“My job security seems to be wavering based on the minister’s announcement from yesterday,” said Jesion, who is a letter carrier with Canada Post. “By eliminating door-to-door delivery, we lose available positions to letter carriers and as such, we will lose jobs.”

The strike comes one day after the federal government announced major changes, including a plan to end door-to-door delivery and transition four million Canadians to community mailboxes.

The government says the move would save $400 million a year.

“Canadians are using us less and less, but now as taxpayers, they’re paying more and more for that,” said Jon Hamilton, vice president of communications at Canada Post. “The minister said that needs to stop and we wholeheartedly agree.”

While the Crown corporation, which is losing $10 million a day, is open to changes, the union is pushing back.

“Moving to community mailboxes, that’s thousands and thousands of jobs,” said Todd Vipond, shop steward at Canadian Union of Postal Workers. “The union didn’t see that coming and none of us saw that coming.”

The changes were announced amid contract negotiations and Canada Post says it’s now working on a new offer.

“We want to keep our working conditions from being eroded,” said Wesley Bartlett, a letter carrier at Canada Post. “A lot of us do this job to serve customers face to face and that’s what we want to continue doing.”

For Canadians who currently have door-to-door service, there’s mixed reaction to the plan to phase it out.

“We live, right downtown and so we still benefit from door-to-door delivery now,” said Bob Brocklebank, an Ottawa resident. “It’s quite convenient.”

“I think it’s for the most part pretty efficient,” said Terry Chief, who lives in Ottawa. “It’s also a tad stressful because there are people who poach packages in our neighborhood.”

For Canadians who need to pay bills or credit cards, many major banks say this can still be done online. For those applying for passports, the federal government is encouraging people to use couriers.

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