Latest news with #shippingissues
CBC
23-05-2025
- Business
- CBC
B.C. business owners brace for second Canada Post strike
Social Sharing B.C business owners are facing the financial difficulties of another Canada Post strike, after postal worker unions delivered a strike notice to the company on Monday with plans to strike on Friday. Emma May, owner of womenswear store Sophie Grace Designs, sells the bulk of her merchandise through online orders. However, when Canada Post strikes, she says she can't reach customers in rural areas. "We service customers all over the country, we service them into the states too but that's a whole other issue with tariffs," she said. "It's a big deal," she told CBC's The Early Edition. May says that during last year's Canada Post strike, business owners in B.C. had to deal with the port strike at the same time – this year, it's tariffs. "It's not cool that businesses here are looking at this again saying, 'Why are we going through this again?'" When Canada Post workers go on strike, businesses must turn to private courier companies if they want to ship their goods. Typically, the couriers cost more than Canada Post. Canada Post workers striked for 32 days starting in November 2024, but the government ordered them back to work on Dec. 17. Both the workers and company were told to come to a new agreement by May, but that hasn't happened. May, who sells suits, silks and other higher-priced items, says her business can afford an increase in shipping. However, many of her business colleagues who sell items ranging from $10 to $30 will be heavily impacted. Connally McDougall, the owner of another Vancouver-based clothing company, said she is not surprised to hear about the strike notice because postal workers did not get the changes that they were asking for during the previous strike in November. WATCH | Small businesses brace for Canada Post disruption: How should the federal government respond to this next round of the Canada Post labour dispute? 2 days ago Duration 1:28 David MacDonald, a senior economist at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, says Prime Minister Mark Carney's Liberals could take a different approach from Trudeau's Liberals, who intervened in the previous Canada Post disruption in December of 2024. Speaking to BC Today host Michelle Eliot, MacDonald says Canada Post could look at improving its strategy instead of laying off workers to manage its dire financial situation. McDougall's brand, Connally Goods, focuses on size and gender inclusivity and sells the majority of its items online. Using alternative shipping companies, such as UPS, FedEx and Purolator not only cost more money, but the logistics of switching over also costs her time. "Sending a parcel to New Brunswick used to cost maybe $15 and now it's $22 because I have to use an alternate provider," she said. "We do need Canada Post." Tariffs don't affect her business as much because her products are locally sourced and made, but, the time spent keeping updated on postal strikes and having to educate customers on service delivery is costly. McDougall says that some couriers are now charging an extra $2 per domestic parcel due to higher demand created by the Canada Post strike notice. "I can't blame them, if anything I hope it incentivizes the corporation to make an agreement that's fair." Fiona Famulak, president and CEO of the B.C. Chamber of Commerce, says that shipping disruptions, caused by the postal strikes and recent port and rail disruptions, create "unreliability in our supply chain." In a press release B.C.'s Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction said that it is taking steps to ensure that those who are receiving disability or income assistance from the province will still receive payment during the Canada Post strike. In another press release, the Surrey Board of Trade and the South Surrey & White Rock Chamber of Commerce called upon the Canadian government and Canada Post to collaborate on a long-term solution that protects both service and workers' rights. Canada Post presented a new offer to the Canadian Union of Postal Workers on Wednesday, which it says includes a 13.59% increase in wages over four years for current Canada Post employees. Also under the new offer, future employees, who are hired after the new collective agreement is signed, will receive health and pension benefits after six months of regular employment. CUPW has said it is reviewing the offer, but noted Wednesday that the offer is "short of our last demand for a 19 per cent increase to members' base wages to keep pace with the rising costs of living."
CBC
08-05-2025
- Business
- CBC
Small Nova Scotian businesses halt shipping to U.S. amid tariff concerns
When an American customer called Scott Bowers to balk about an extra $104 US charge on his $180 US purchase, the owner of the Curling Store said he wasn't sure what to do. "He ended up rejecting that package," Bowers said in an interview with CBC News. That left the Dartmouth businessman in a pickle because he had to issue a refund to his customer but wasn't able to get the product returned due to the prohibitive cost. He said getting the delivery back into Canada would have required him to pay a shipping fee of $235 US, which he decided not to do. After a few more similar incidents, Bowers halted shipments to the United States. The Curling Store is one of a few small Nova Scotian businesses that have stopped sending deliveries to the U.S. amid the ongoing tariff war. Bowers made his announcement in a social media post Wednesday, saying the store is still able to ship products to the U.S. if customers are willing to pay extra fees. "We hope this is temporary and appreciate all of the support from U.S. customers to this point," the post reads. This comes after U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order last month to end an exemption that allowed small packages of goods that originated in China and Hong Kong and were worth less than $800 US to enter the U.S. tax-free. That went into effect last week. Bowers said an estimated 95 per cent of his products, from duffel bags to brooms, are made in China and most of his shipments to the U.S. came in below the $800 US benchmark. That meant that until recently, most of his American customers weren't faced with extra taxes when picking up their deliveries. He said it's difficult on his end to track what the final cost to American customers might be, since it depends on the product's country of origin and the state the shipment is being delivered to. "I'm going to get customers that are not going to be aware of those charges until the product shows up at the door and they're going to be unwilling, or unable, to pay more than double what the product is worth," he said. Classy Cards Creative, based in Windsor, N.S., has also decided to stop shipping products to the U.S. Like the Curling Store, many of the stationery company's products are manufactured in China, according to owner Cassy Collins. About 70 per cent of Classy Cards' customers are based in the U.S. "If tariffs can come back down to a reasonable price, then we can just adjust our prices a little bit to make up that difference and ship everything over," she said. "Either [that or] we have to put those costs onto our buyers, but no one realistically is going to pay $300 for a $100 order." Customers have generally been understanding of the situation, Collins said, but it has been difficult since there hasn't been a lot of clarity on how much the extra expense will be for them. Possible options Collins said until the exemption is reinstated, she is thinking of setting up a drop shipping company in the U.S., so the product would be shipped directly from manufacturers to customers. She said she's also looked into finding other manufacturers, a process that can take up to a couple of months. "Just the beginning of this year, our first quarter has been amazing. It just sucks that all of a sudden, everything stops, because we know people want our products, but we just can't get them out there," she said. For Bowers, things are a bit more stable, he said, since only about 10 per cent of his sales are to the U.S. His plan moving forward is to focus on Canadian clients.
