by Doug Ashbury
Northern News Services

NNSL (Dec 10/97) - "Inconvenient." That's how Yellowknife businesses are describing the recent postal strike.

"There certainly was a slowdown getting bills paid," MicroAge general manager Marilyn Hinchey said Tuesday.

"But others made a real effort to go out of their way to pay their bills," she added.

The computer store's larger clients, such as the GNWT and school boards, were among those who made arrangements to pay bills.

"Fortunately, it (the strike) was short enough to only be inconvenient."

Canadian Union of Postal Workers walked off the job Nov. 19 after seven months of negotiations failed.

They were back on the job last Thursday after the federal government pushed back-to-work legislation through the House of Commons in two days.

Susan Zimberg at Ferguson Simek Clark said the engineering and architectural firm relies heavily on courier services so the strike was only a "minor inconvenience."

But not surprisingly there were delays associated with clients paying bills, she said. "You can't fax a cheque."

Shawna Peckford of CNX Courier, which also operates the Quick Mail Courier service, said business picked up because of the postal strike.

CNX is an agent for both Loomis and Fed/Ex couriers.

"It was crazy -- definitely good for business," she said.

Prior to the strike, businesses started calling the courier company to get important packages through, she said. And once postal workers took to the picket lines, people started sending packages, especially Christmas presents, through by courier.

But not every courier outfit was happy with the strike.

Larry Kish, mailroom supervisor with Dolittle Services Ltd., said the company may have lost business because of the strike.

"We deal with GNWT mail and they quit sending it," he said.

Dolittle Services, whose main business is furniture-moving, couriers GNWT mail to the post office.

Results of an Yellowknife Chamber of Commerce survey on how the postal strike had an impact business were not available Tuesday morning.

CUPW Local 858 president Dale Bouchard said the Yellowknife post office sorting plant processed 12,100 stamped envelopes Monday -- a one-day record.

As well as the stamped envelopes, many of which were Christmas cards, the sorting plant also handled hundreds of other larger envelops.

Bouchard said volume slowed Tuesday morning. She anticipated an above-normal volume of express and priority post items coming through the system in the coming days.

Prior to the strike, volume at the Yellowknife plant, and across Canada, plummeted as Canadians anticipated the strike.