Collectors believe stamp hobby will endure despite unclear future of strike-embroiled Canada Post

A strike by national postal workers is frustrating for the local stamp-collecting community like it is for anyone expecting wares through the mail.

But even with the future of Canada Post in question, given the Crown corporation's mounting financial losses and loss of business due to the strike, enthusiasts in Edmonton say they feel their hobby will ride out the uncertainty.

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In the short term, the strike by postal union workers that's in its third week has made it "difficult" for collectors and dealers to obtain or ship materials both in terms of timeliness and financially, Edmonton Stamp Club president David Pattison told CTV News Edmonton.

He said it makes collectors turn to other services to obtain material, but other delivery systems are more expensive.

"You start looking at UPS and FedEx and some of the others, they're a lot more costly than Canada Post, and timeliness as well," Pattison said. "It affects not just Canada, but elsewhere as well. With the Canada Post strike, some of our people here are servicing clients who may be in Great Britain or maybe in South Africa, so they're unable to get the materials to them."

For Keith Spencer, while communication between collectors has moved online, the inability to send/receive mail because of the strike affects a key component of the hobby.

"I think most collectors feel that they can't stay in touch with other collectors, and they can't send stamps to people, and they can't get stamps. It's very frustrating," said Spencer, who's been collecting stamps for more than 70 years.

"A lot of the hobby is done now on eBay. People are buying, selling, trading, and collectors love to send letters and to get mail. That component of the hobby has been really interrupted by the strike."

Businesses across Canada are lobbying the federal government to intervene in the labour dispute between 55,000 workers represented by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers and the Crown corporation. The Retail Council of Canada said Tuesday that the strike jeopardizes businesses and their employees across the country.

The federal government has so far resisted calls for it to intervene, even though it intervened in other labour disputes earlier this year. Federal mediation was put on pause last week as the two sides appeared too far apart to reach an agreement, and the federal labour minister on Wednesday urged them to get back to negotiating.

Still, while the short- and long-term future for mail is murky, both Pattison and Spencer believe the hobby will endure despite the service disruption and if circumstances alter Canada Post.

Pattison said the club is still recovering from the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on meeting attendance – before it, 60 members would attend a Monday evening get-together, whereas this week, more than 50 people attended – but that the strike isn't affecting short-term interest.

"Anytime you have a strike going on and you get a shortage of materials, then yes, it's going to have an impact on our meetings, but I think (a drop of interest) would be a ways (away)," he said.

Spencer said he believes the strike is "timed to be as frustrating as possible."

"It's right at the Christmas season, which is the heaviest mail time for Canada Post for the whole year," he said.

With files from CTV News Edmonton's Sean McClune and The Canadian Press