Need Lantus/Levemir from Canada?...Postal Strike info

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Chris & China (GA)

Chris & China (GA)

Member Since 2013
From Jordan (the pharmacy manager at Marks Marine Pharmacy)

Hi Everyone, I have had the pleasure to talk to many of you on the phone via Marks Marine Pharmacy, I am the general manager. I wanted to shed some light on what many are asking about - THE POSTAL STRIKE!

I am only so much "in the know" but what I do know is what we are doing to handle it thus far! It is not convenient timing (to say the least) because it just so happens the contract that may cause the strike ends this same weekend where in Canada - we were CLOSED for Canada day on Friday, and on Monday everything in the USA is closed for the 4th of July.

We were very scared Thursday and rumours were rampant... the last thing we want is for us to ship X amount of $ or # of Insulin and for it only to get stuck in "Limbo" because of the strike.... Also it would have made ZERO sense to ship Thursday because it would not have moved until Monday given the holiday and even when Monday rolled around we were threatened with the possibility of a strike. So no Insulin got shipped out since last Wednesday the 29th.

After spending much of my weekend trying to figure out what to do, and to contact and connect with everybody that I knew either that worked for the post or has a shipping based business..... I found out - "They must give 72 hours notice" if they are going to strike!!!!!

This is HUGE news for us - GOOD NEWS. Because if we ship today - AIR MAIL, it goes straight to SAN FRAN customs tonight (or absolute worse case scenario it would be there tomorrow - getting out of Canada way before the 72 hour notice). In other words, leaving Canada Post and becoming US post and taking away every possible worry.

SO OUR PLAN TODAY, and I have asked the whole staff here to focus all our energy on shipping ALL pending insulin orders on AIR delivery TODAY!

We can really only take this one day at a time. I will come back and update you and do my best to keep this group in the loop because I recognize many may be affected - especially if they do decide to actually do a strike or lock-out.

As long as you all know, we are doing our best and we will do everything we can to make sure no orders even have the chance of getting stuck in "limbo" or not getting there. Either we ship with confidence like today - or if that confidence is taken away we will have to make other choices which you will then be notified.

It sucks that it is people like ALL of us that receive the collateral damage from inter-company politics. But I do see BOTH sides points and have heard great arguments from both sides of the battle.

LAST UPDATE ON STRIKE ....starts on Friday
 
Hi everyone.

I finally had the opportunity to get my 25-year-old car into the shop to have winter tires taken off, etc. Yes, I know it is summer, and no, it doesn't snow in Canada in July. Didn't want to be without a car while Rover was unwell. The vet clinic I used is out the highway in the country. Anywho, my car needs load$ of part$ and according to the order person I talked to at the mechanics, the courier companies are so backed up due to the pending postal strike that they are not giving or guaranteeing a delivery date. For parts ordered Tuesday, the mechanic could not guarantee that they would be in by Friday (and then the next 2 weeks, the mechanic is on holiday).

Living in Canada, I've never had to use Marks. It seems like a nice place to do business with. Perhaps, if you are willing to pay the extra shipping, they could use courier companies instead of Canada Post. As plans stand now, Canada Post says that it will only be delivering 1 day near the end of the month, and then only govt pension/welfare/veteran/etc cheques.

I have 8 or 9 unopened pen vials + 1 opened (3/4 full, no air). I bought a box of 5 recently and just discovered an almost full box at the back of the fridge. Duh! I've been holding off talking to the local shelter (again, way out of town) and/or listing in the forum supply thread because I haven't done an inventory list and most importantly, I'm not sure about shipping them when the weather is so hot. Currently 31C, and the rest of the week doesn't look much better.

If someone is really stuck, willing to pay the courier fees, and wants to take the chance of Lantus sitting in a hot truck or shipping warehouse, let me know and we'll try to figure something out.

I'm still sleeping a lot and missing Rover to bits. I'll be back on the forum when I can. Loads of love and a tremendous amount of appreciation for you lot.
 
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Update from Jordan as of 5pm Central 7/7/16

Wednesday, yesterday, our whole team worked on shipping from Canada, and I am proud to say that ALL orders got shipped yesterday on AIR delivery. So if you placed an order yesterday, you should have it by the end of next week! ....Today we found out that they are postponing the strike or lockout until Monday, so we are also trying to ship out all orders placed this morning - all on expedited or express post so it will be long gone out of Canada and in the United States by Friday night with no possibility of being affected by the strike.

For any new orders between now and when we receive an update regarding the strike, we will be holding until we know for sure that what we ship - you will receive! I will try to keep everyone posted as only time will tell.
 
After a last ditch effort to avoid, looks like both sides ruffled each other's feathers and have stepped away from the table.
 
Regular Canadian mail delivery within Canada and most likely every where else has been super restrictive this week. Even though up until today there was no official strike, regular mail has dwindled down to almost nil in anticipation of the strike. At this point I certainly would not hold my breath about regular mail deliveries in/from Canada.
 
Email from petsdrugmart
Dear Valued Customer,

It is our ongoing commitment to keep you informed regarding any possible changes to your experience with PetsDrugMart.ca. As you may have heard, Canada Post issued a 72-hour notice to the Canadian Union of Postal Workers. With this notice, Canada Post could cease operations as early as Monday July 11, 2016.

It is business as usual at PetsDrugMart.ca!

Ten days ago, PetsDrugMart.ca moved all deliveries exclusively to Purolator. Deliveries via Canada Post are no longer available. This will impact your shopping experience in the following ways:

- Shipping to PO boxes will be temporarily unavailable.

- Those customers shipping to a PO box will be required to update delivery address (located in step 2 of 3 of checkout) to include a civic, or alternate address to ensure successful delivery, via Purolator.

- Returns to PetsDrugMart.ca may incur longer lead times to be received and processed at our office.

We will do our very best to process your return and refund in the timeliest manner possible.

We have taken all available measures to ensure that our service remains uninterrupted, however, due to the increase in volume to Purolator, they can no longer guarantee delivery dates for the time being. Please allow for extra shipping time when placing your order.

Should you have any additional questions, please feel very free to contact our Customer Care team by email, to:orders@PetsDrugMart.ca

Thank you in advance for your patience and understanding during this time.
 
Hi everyone,

If anyone ever gets into trouble and needs a pen next day air I'll be happy to send them one of mine. I just bought 5 from them a month ago and it will take Willow around 75 days per pen. This means I have a few to spare if someone needs them right away next day.
Just let me know and I'll be happy to send you one.
 
Canada Post has withdrawn the lockout threat that was due to take effect in a few hours. Some progress was made today in the talks. So, unless the union strikes or the talks go up in flames, for the time being there will be mail … and bills.
 
Think it's precautionary and hope it's not a sign of an impending strike/lockout. DH's government pension cheques were mailed over a week earlier than usual.
 
Red & Rover (GA) said:
Think it's precautionary and hope it's not a sign of an impending strike/lockout. DH's government pension cheques were mailed over a week earlier than usual.
Click to expand...


I believe they were initiating an early mail out for the government cheques when the possibility of a strike was announced and it was stated what even with a strike the pension cheques would still go out. However I have found since the initial announcement of a strike that I am not receiving my regular mail..at least not in the same time frame. My bank statement should have come almost a week ago and my Mastercard statement should have been here about 4 days ago. I wonder if our postal system is doing a work slow down approach at this time???
 
From CBC news:
The Canadian Union of Postal Workers was expected to give a 72-hour strike notice at a press conference on Thursday morning, before that event was abruptly cancelled.
No reason for the cancellation was given, but the union promised "more information will be out shortly."
It wasn't immediately clear if a special mediator has been named, or whether the two sides have agreed to work with them to reach a binding agreement in the dispute that has dragged on for months.
The two sides appeared to be on the brink of a labour stoppage in July, before agreeing to two more months of intense negotiations. At the time, the union had a strong strike mandate from its members, before the two sides mutually agreed to extend it by 60 days.
That time frame is set to expire at midnight eastern time on Thursday.
If a strike isn't announced by then, the union must seek a new mandate from their membership for a job action.
That process could take weeks, which would push any union-led job action into the fall. Alternatively, the company is already in a position to lock out its workers as they have been without a collective agreement for months.
 
I don't think Canada Post will lock the doors but you never know. They are the ones trying to mess up the postal workers pension plans. And the government did send the pension cheques out a week again (not that you can cash them a week earlier).

Christmas might be shopping local (not a bad thing).
 
"The biggest union at Canada Post says it has filed a 72-hour notice of job action, but is willing to withdraw it if the Crown corporation agrees to an extension on negotiations.
The Canadian Union of Postal Workers will be in a legal position to strike at 11:59 p.m. ET on Sunday.
The union says the strike action will rotate by province and territory, and that union workers will not work overtime."
http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/canada-post-union-cupw-strike-mandate-1.3735203

The pharmacy is close to the border but if caught up in a rotating strike, Lantus could possibly sit in a warehouse or truck trying to get out of British Columbia. The weather is still hot (in my part of Canada anyway).
 
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I'd definitely be cautious about ordering anything time sensitive - even though the union intends to do rotating strikes, I wonder if Canada Post Corp could still lock them out. Which would mean a full work stoppage anyway. Just something for people to keep in mind.
 
At this point in the negotiations, Canada Post can lock out. They've come to the end of an agreed upon 2-month contract bargaining extension. Although they have a strike mandate, the postal union would need a new full membership vote to strike which would take some time to arrange.
 
Latest:
Labour Minister MaryAnn Mihychuk said a special mediator will begin working with Canada Post and the union representing the majority of its employees Friday morning in hopes of avoiding a strike.
"Sometimes when negotiations have been going for a long time, like now, they fall into a rut, and sometimes you need to shake things up," Mihychuk said Thursday evening in Saguenay, Que., the site of the Liberal caucus retreat.
While Mihychuk said it was a positive step that both Canada Post and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers were co-operating with the mediation process and that the hope was for a resolution by Sunday, she added, "Canadians need to get prepared for a potential work stoppage. I think that's the reality."

In other Canadian news, there was a mink scurrying between the tables at a riverfront outdoor café this afternoon, looking for food. I dropped a few bits of my oatmeal cookie. (It wasn't a great cookie - sigh.)
 
The union has delayed their plans for work-to-rule for a 2nd 24-hour period. Can't say they are not trying. Canada Post and the union will continue meeting with a federally appointed special mediator on Tuesday.
 
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