How the Canada Post strike is impacting rural communities in Alberta

The impact of the on-going Canada Post strike is being felt in rural communities that rely on the service.

• Get the latest Edmonton updates right to your inbox

Derby’s Lakeview General Store in Seba Beach, an hour west of Edmonton, is contracted by Canada Post. It offers everything a regular post office would, such as sorting letter mail and processing and storing parcels.

The store processes at least two full bins of mail and upwards of 80 parcels a day. More than 500 mailboxes are inside the post office.

“People are very dependent on it, even though you get the people that have all their stuff online,” said Andrea Derbyshire, owner of Derby’s Lakeview General Store.

“They’re still ordering for deliveries, parcels, personal goods, and gifts.”

Canada Post workers went on strike on Friday after failing to reach a negotiated agreement with their employers. Around 55,000 workers with the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) are striking.

A special mediator has arrived to help with negotiations to end the strike with an impact that’s growing everyday.

While it’s only been a few days, Derbyshire says she has noticed her store being less busy since the strike.

“Today I’ve seen 10 people and on average we’re usually about 20 to 25 people so people aren’t on their regular routine either,” Derbyshire said.

Derbyshire says she’s worried how the strike will impact her business as less people are coming into her store to check her mail.

Rural people ‘going to suffer’

People on the picket lines in Edmonton are preparing for what their local CUPW union president says will be a long strike.

“Our rural areas are the people who are really going to suffer from this and we don’t want that to happen,” CUPE local president James Ball said.

“The rural area post officers are really important to these small communities here.”

Ball says rural communities don’t have the same options as people in the city when it comes to additional courier services.

“We’re their lifeline,” Ball said.

He says postal workers plan to volunteer to deliver socioeconomic cheques on Wednesday, an agreement in place with Canada Post.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Amanda Anderson