Local organizations suffering due to postal strike

Christmas donations fall amid postal strike Donations are down amid the ongoing Canada Post strike. The Salvation Army expresses the struggles it is facing.

Local organizations are seeing a lack of donations as Canada Post continues its strike.

Monday marks the 25th day of the strike and it doesn’t seem that there will be a solution soon.

A proposal was submitted to the union on Friday. As of Monday evening, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) reportedly dropped its wage demand to 19 per cent over four years, according to the Canadian Press.

The demand to merge the urban and rural bargaining units was also dropped.

Some of the charities that are being affected by the strike are the Salvation Army, the Downtown Mission, Windsor-Essex County Humane Society and the Windsor Goodfellows.

The Salvation Army said it relies on mail campaigns to engage donors around the holidays.

Fundraising for the Salvation Army has seen a decrease of 50 per cent, working out to more than $9 million.

“When people donate directly through the kettle, they are directly donating to the community that they are in, which I know is important for a lot of people,” said Cortney Harkin with the Salvation Army Southwestern Ontario.

“They want to make sure that their donation is affecting the community that they live in, the community their children are growing up in or their family resides.”

As Harkin mentioned, the physical kettles are a great way to ensure your donation is received. Donations can also be accepted online or on the phone.

The funds go to food banks, shelter programs, emergency disaster help and other needed services across the country.

- With files from the Canadian Press.