Soul Therapy is located on the main street of Spiritwood. (photo/ Soul Therapy Wellness Health Store). (photo/ Soul Therapy Wellness Health Store)

By Kenneth Cheung

STRIKE IMPACT

‘Work with what I’ve got’: Spiritwood spa business battles postal strike to stay afloat

Dec 13, 2024 | 11:00 AM

As the Canada Post strike nears its fifth week, a local health and wellness spa business owner said they are prepared not to gain any profits by the end of the year.

“I might as well not even bother, like I’m not even going to bother because there’s just no way for me to get the specialized products I need for my business,” said Lise Stevens, owner of Soul Therapy in Spiritwood.

“My goal is to basically break even, work with what I’ve got.”

Pointing out that she is losing the crucial sales window, many of the products she ordered for Christmas are now trapped in different postal offices across the country.

“I’ve paid for it already, but it’s not on my shelf to sell, so I’m losing sales all the time now because of the postal strike,” she said. “I’m not dealing with hundreds of dollars, I’m dealing with thousands of dollars.”

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She went on to share that she no longer can ‘swallow the cost’ as the prices of the products she sells and uses to provide services rise every time she restocks. If the strike continues, she must keep increasing the cost to customers.

“If it lasts longer and longer and longer, I don’t know what’s going to happen because I just won’t be able to sell and get those products.”

Some may wonder why she couldn’t find the needed products locally; as much as she wanted to, her business’s situation was simply different.

“They’re specialized products, and generally, the distributors are always in the east. For my type of business, I can’t just order from Saskatchewan or Alberta. I have to order farther away, B.C. and Ontario are my main distributors.”

It’s not just Stevens feeling the effects as many local business owners must toughen up to the reality of continuous losses. According to the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), the first two weeks of service disruptions resulted in at least $765 million in losses for small and medium-sized businesses, averaging $76.5 million daily.

More than 55,000 postal workers, represented by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW), launched a nationwide strike on Nov.15 to fight for better working conditions.(Kenneth Cheung/ battlefordsNOW staff)

“There’s a breaking point that people are going to have a hard time, especially if they’re not established. Like, I’m lucky. I’m established, but what about people that aren’t? That’s a real concern that I have,” she noted when discussing how younger businesses will ‘suffer’ more.

“I have been in this part of the community for a long time, and I have loyal customers, so I get a lot of rewards from servicing this community,” she added.

Reflecting on the strike situation, she empathizes with the workers’ demands for better working conditions. However, she believes it’s unfair for them to take action at this time of year.

“If they had done a staggered strike, like had some days on, some days off, and not completely halted it, I think people would be more sympathetic,” she noted.

For the latest update on the situation, Federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon announced on Friday that he is putting a pause on the Canada Post strike and is asking the Canada Industrial Relations Board to reinstate approximately 55,000 workers.

“Canadians cannot continue to bear the consequences of this impasse. Our priority is to restore postal services while ensuring a fair balance between workers, those of the employers, but also those of Canadians,” MacKinnon said in a release.

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Kenneth.Cheung@pattisonmedia.com