**Postal Workers Strike Shuts Down Owen Sound Post Office Amid National Labour Dispute**
“Yes, we need to phase out door-to-door delivery. It’s going to happen. It’s just the way it goes,” said Canada Post customer Tim Muzzell outside the Owen Sound post office on Friday.
Residents arriving at the downtown Owen Sound post office Friday morning were met with locked glass doors as postal workers joined a national strike. Only those with post office boxes and keys to enter the vestibule could access the building. Many who did not have a key waited outside, hoping someone would let them in. Some customers were unaware that a strike was underway.
Canada Post has announced that no mail or parcels will be processed or delivered during the strike, with some post offices closed and no new mail accepted. About 220 letter carriers and postal clerks from Local 582 in Grey-Bruce are among 55,000 postal workers nationwide who walked off the job Thursday. The strike was called by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) in response to federal plans to end door-to-door delivery and implement other operational changes.
Signs held by striking workers read “Fighting for your public service” and “CUPW on strike.” The dispute follows 20 months of labour tension amid sharply declining mail volumes and revenues.
Heather Gibson, a striking postal clerk from Owen Sound, emphasized the importance of door-to-door delivery, especially for seniors and during the winter months. “It’s their safety,” she explained. Currently, only about a quarter of Canadians still receive door-to-door mail service. The remaining population collects their mail from centralized boxes or rural mailboxes.
In Owen Sound, door-to-door delivery remains available except in newer subdivisions that use community mailboxes. In smaller communities like Shallow Lake, where Gibson lives, residents pick up their mail at local post offices.
Gibson expressed frustration over what she describes as generous bonuses and high salaries paid to Canada Post executives while the corporation struggles financially and workers’ incomes have not kept pace with inflation.
“It’s not that we’re being greedy. But the cost of living keeps going up. It’s not cheap,” she said. Strikers currently receive $60 a day in union strike pay. The CUPW has proposed initiatives to improve Canada Post’s financial health, including postal banking services, wellness checks for seniors, and expanding services to help post offices thrive.
Despite these suggestions, Gibson feels the corporation is trying to marginalize its workers. “I just feel as though they’re just trying to diminish us,” she said, noting mixed public reactions ranging from supportive honks to discouraging gestures. One passerby applauded the picketers.
The union released a statement condemning the federal government for ending door-to-door delivery, lifting the moratorium on post office closures, reducing delivery frequency requirements to less than five days a week, and allowing more frequent increases in stamp prices.
Public Works Minister Joel Lightbound defended the changes, describing Canada Post as effectively insolvent. The federal government projects savings of nearly $400 million annually by converting four million addresses to community mailboxes.
Since 2018, Canada Post has reported losses of at least $3 billion due to a significant decline in mail volume—from 5.5 billion pieces 20 years ago to fewer than 2 billion today.
The CUPW opposes the changes, stating that the recommendations of the May Industrial Inquiry Commission report undermine the quality of public postal service.
Outside the post office on 3rd Avenue East, Deb Pyke, who runs Fantasyland downtown, and Tim Muzzell waited for someone with a vestibule key to grant access to their mailboxes.
Pyke needed to retrieve business bills. During a previous postal strike last November and December, before the labour minister extended their contract and ordered workers back, she had shown support by bringing pizza and chocolate for the postal workers. She questioned why strikers could not let her in to get her mail this time.
Gibson explained later that postal workers risk discipline if they let non-workers inside during the strike, but suggested that a supervisor might be able to assist if present.
As Pyke called out asking if anyone had a vestibule key, a passerby checked her postage on a letter but could not help her gain entry. Muzzell, who had lost his entrance key, also waited outside.
While waiting, Muzzell and Pyke had a friendly debate about the future of the post office.
He expressed that while he appreciated having Canada Post’s services and would miss door-to-door delivery, he recognized the financial unsustainability. “Yes, we need to phase out door-to-door delivery. It’s going to happen. It’s just the way it goes, but not overnight. It should be phased in over maybe 10 years,” he said. “But it has to be done. We can’t afford billions of dollars.”
Pyke raised concerns about seniors in rural areas, like Kemble where she lives, who struggle to reach community mailboxes amid heavy snow.
“That’s a good point too,” Muzzell acknowledged. “If you’re in the country, it’s good to have that mailbox.”
He concluded, “I guess no one has that darn key. We just should appreciate the fact that we have had Canada Post as it has been for the last hundred years.”
Eventually, both Pyke and Muzzell were able to access their mailboxes, although the post office doors remained locked throughout the morning.
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*Stay tuned for further updates on the Owen Sound postal strike and how it impacts the community.*
https://www.owensoundsuntimes.com/news/local-news/owen-sound-postal-workers-join-national-strike-friday
