Winnipeg postal workers collecting letters to Santa despite ongoing strike

Postal workers on picket lines in Winnipeg say despite their dispute with Canada Post, they will continue a decades-long tradition of making sure kids' letters to Santa Claus get to the North Pole.

"We're setting everything aside to make sure that those letters get to Santa and they get a response," said Sean Tugby, president of Canadian Union of Postal Workers Winnipeg Local 856.

Some 55,000 CUPW workers are now in the second week of a strike that began Nov. 15, after the union and the Crown corporation failed to reach an agreement on a new contract after a full year of negotiations. CUPW says it's seeking better working conditions, as well as a wage increase of 23 per cent over four years, well above the 11.5 per cent the Crown corporation has offered.

For more than 40 years, Canada Post has provided a service that promises to deliver letters from children to Santa, and get a reply to them.

Tugby said that won't change because of the strike.

"This is a really magical, important time of year for a lot of kids," he said. "There's going to be several trips to the North Pole to make sure that they get there."

Nationally, the postal service handles 1.2 million to 1.5 million Santa letters every holiday season. According to Tugby, Local 856 gets about 15,000 letters each year.

While the letters are normally dropped into a mailbox or at a post office, this year, the letters can be left off with workers at one of three picket line dropoffs in Winnipeg:

•  1199 Nairn Ave., between 7 a.m. and 3 p.m.
•  208 Provencher Blvd., between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m.
•  1870 Wellington Ave., between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.

At each drop point there is a box labelled just for Santa. Letters that come in will be collected every day, then delivered to the North Pole, said Tugby. 

Since beginning the dropoff on Sunday, workers have received over 200 letters, he said.

Some young Manitobans waiting to see Santa this week weren't too worried about whether he'd get their letters.

Ella Bueckert sent hers out before the strike began.

She's not taking any chances though — she gave her wish list to Old Saint Nick in person when she met him at a meet and greet at the CF Polo Park shopping centre in Winnipeg.

Bueckert said she ranks the Christmas season as her number 1 compared to other festivities throughout the year, and she writes a letter to the North Pole every year, to make sure Old St. Nick knows what she wants for Christmas.

This year, "I asked for makeup in my stocking. I asked for an ornament for a mini tree in my room … [and] new pyjamas and accessories for a doll," she said.

Rob Bueckert, Ella's father, said the tradition of letters to Santa is important.

"It's special every year that … my daughter and my son can send a letter to Santa and get a response back," he said. "I think it's great that [postal workers] are doing their part to make sure that's happening."

Nine-year-old Ava Henson, who also paid a visit to Santa at the mall, hasn't written her letter yet, but knows how important it is to send one.

"[Santa] sees it and decides if you're on the good list or the naughty list," she said.

After hearing postal workers will be volunteering to get her letter to the North Pole, she hopes to send one quickly so Santa's elves can get to work on her wish list.