OH CANADA.....CANADA POST SHUTDOWN

For those of you who don't already know there is a little disagreement between the Canadian postal union and Canada Post.Canada Post shut down urban postal service across Canada on Tuesday night after locking out 48,000 unionized workers. This came after 12 days of strikes by members of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers through various cities.

What does this mean for your customers?...well that means all mail processing plants and letter carrier depots are closed and all facilities have been secured. No new mail will be accepted.

Now according to USPS, they are still shipping to Canada and this "little incident has caused a few days delay, but we are still shipping to them"....but forgive me if I tend not to believe my disgruntle postal worker that I usually see yelling at customers.

What are you options?

Some sellers are "closing up shop" which I do not suggest, unless you live in the "Danger Zone". But, If you have taken advantage of the "Etsy Fedex Account" promotion, you can offer your Canadian customers that option, though it will be higher ($10 on average, depending on size) it will ensure that you continue to do business with our canadian friends. Or you can try another of the parcel delivery services ( DHL, UPS, etc).

Either way this has really put a "monkey wrench" in business...especially when for alot of merchants business has been down, but there are options out there for you.

How are you handling the Canadian Strike?

For more information and current updates about the strike go to Canada Post:http://clients.infopost.ca/en/