Canada Post strike looming

As negotiations continue to stagnate between Canada Post and their worker’s union – Sylvan Lake residents could be facing an impending mail stoppage as early as Saturday, July 2 if talks fail to progress.

According to the media blog on canadapost.ca, a labour disruption would mean Canada Post “Will not operate. Mail and Parcels will not be delivered, and no new items will be accepted.Any mail and parcels within the postal system during a work disruption will be secured and delivered as quickly as possible once operations resume.”

If you have parcels that need to be sent out, they must be sent out no later than June 27 for regional expedited parcels. June 29 for xpresspost national and regional and June 29 for all other forms of parcels.

The latest offer by Canada Post was tabled on Saturday June 25 to Canadian Union of Postal Workers.

A work stoppage for Sylvan Lakers, according to Communications Officer Joanne Gaudet, would mean that all utility bills will no longer be delivered in the mail, however this does not mean that they do not need to be paid.

“The onus is on them to either contact us and find out how much they owe and be extra diligent with what their bills are,” she said.

Fortunately, the town has recently cut down the amount of mail inserts being delivered to each home, limiting them down to generally budget related concerns. The Town is also fortunate to be on a two month cycle, meaning that the strike would only affect municipal billing if it extends past this point.

Another option for Lakers, according to Gaudet, is to sign up to the Town’s e-billing program, which has been available for about one year and has 12 per cent Town usage rate.

To sign up for this program, Sylvan Lakers need to email ut@sylvanlake.ca and include their preferred email, their account number, their address they wish to register and that that they intend to receive ebills.

“Hopefully the more people that see it – the more people will find it a valuable tool for if and when we have strikes,” Gaudet said.

reporter@sylvanlakenews.com