Rural Yukoners say Canada Post strike hitting them particularly hard

Yukoners who live in rural areas say the ongoing Canada Post strike is affecting them disproportionately.

Whitehorse has access to other courier services, including FedEx and Purolator, a subsidiary of Canada Post that falls under a different union. In communities like Pelly Crossing and Destruction Bay, though, Canada Post is the only postal service around.

Some residents in those smaller communities have accepted Christmas is all but cancelled. While a drag, some say that's not the worst of it.

Brenda Guthrie, who lives in Destruction Bay, calls Canada Post a lifeline — something she feels residents of southern cities, and Whitehorse, just don't seem to get.

"Most people here, while we sympathize, we are also going, holy moly, we can't have this service taken away in the North and rural and remote areas," she said. "It is a vital, essential need.

"People in the rural, remote areas, you don't have options. This is a very big cut off from society when you do this."

It's been about three weeks since some 55,000 Canada Post workers walked off the job. The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) and the Crown corporation remain at loggerheads.

Sticking points include wages and working on the weekends. Earlier this week, the federal labour minister said the two are "still very far apart." Canada Post says it's been hemorrhaging money for years; meanwhile, the union says its members haven't been treated — or compensated — fairly for as long.

Pelly Crossing resident Mike Dobson said he understands what the workers are fighting for. Still, he said the strike has left residents across the North high and dry.

"Like, come on guys, you gotta figure this out," he said. "The way I see it, Canada Post to the communities is an essential service, like the police and fire department."

Dobson said he grapples with heart trouble and the job action has delayed the delivery of medication.

"Maybe it is time for the government to mandate them back to work, because I don't see a fair negotiated settlement coming out of this," he said. "[The] labour dispute should not disrupt the Canada Post services to remote communities like my own."