The Welcome Hall Mission in Montreal says it’s worried the ongoing postal strike might impact the number of donations it receives.
It offers meals and groceries to hundreds in the city each day. While the annual Thanksgiving meal it hosts every year for homeless people wasn’t disrupted because of the strike, the organization’s president and CEO said he worries it could harm them moving forward.
“It’s a brief moment of joy for those whose lives have been shattered,” Samuel Watts said about the turkey dinner the organization was hosting Monday evening.
It’s currently asking that donations be made through its website or via the phone until the postal strike is over.
The organization relies on mail carriers for monetary donations it uses to organize events like its Thanksgiving meal and the Christmas gathering it also hosts each winter for families in need.
“I’m certain we will have fewer donations this year than last year, simply because of the unexpected postal strike,” Watts said.
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The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) has been on strike since September 25, after the federal government announced changes to Canada Post’s business model the union says would lead to job losses.
Mail delivery had been paused entirely because of the strike. But since Saturday the union committed to rotating strikes instead, allowing mail and parcel delivery to resume, albeit on a limited basis.
While the number of online donations Welcome Hall Mission receives has increased in recent years, Watts estimates that 40 to 50 per cent of their monetary donations are still sent by mail.
“That’s 12 to 15 million dollars in donations per year,” he said.
He estimates last year’s postal strike just before Christmas cost the orgnization roughly $1 million in donations.
Watts said the ongoing strike also makes it harder for the Welcome Hall Mission to communicate with those who prefer to make donations through the post.
“The vast majority of donors are people over the age of 60, and while a good number of them are very familiar with the internet and social media, there is also a large percentage of people who avoid anything related to social media and online donations because they tend to think it’s not secure,” Watts said.
Canada Post made its most recent offer to striking workers on Oct. 3, one the union has characterized as an “outright attack on public service.”
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