LAC LA BICHE - After the Canada Post strike began on Nov. 15, many courier depots experienced a significant uptick in deliveries of Christmas parcels and other mail over the next few weeks
For the past two years, Multi-Test in Lac La Biche has served as a courier depot for the local area. According to owner and manager Lina Yadlowsky, this is the busiest the depot has ever been, and staff are run off their feet sorting through large quantities of packages and trying to get them to their rightful destinations.
Typically, Yadlowsky continued, the courier depot receives 10 parcels a day, and on the odd occasion, 15. However, while 55,000 Canada Post workers from across Canada were on the picket lines, and with the Christmas season looming, the number of daily incoming packages increased exponentially.
“With the strike, it was usually 40 or more,” she told Lakeland This Week. “It was three or four times as many parcels.”
Name game
With more parcels, comes more challenges . . . like connecting people to the deliveries. Yadlowsky said a number of parcels arrive at the depot missing either names or phone numbers. When this occurs, workers at the Lac La Biche-based company must take the time to track down folks to get their Christmas gifts to them.
“It does make more work for our staff,” she said.
The already busy courier depot has also heard from many local residents who have been frustrated by the mail strike and delays caused by changes in delivery methods of ordered products.
“People are always upset . . . they can’t find their parcel . . . they don’t know what’s going on,” she said.
Resolution expected
On Friday, the federal Minister of Labour stepped in and asked the labour board to intervene in the Canada Post strike, calling for a time out until the spring.
News that the strike may be over is welcome news for Yadlowsky, as she hopes it will ease frustrations for residents. She is also hoping that more people will see the value of the local depots and use the services – hopefully without as much panic – even when mailboxes reopen.