TORONTO, ONT – Workers at Canada’s national postal service are on strike after failing to reach a negotiated settlement with Canada Post.

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers said early Friday that about 55,000 workers are on strike, saying little progress has been made in the bargaining process. The work stoppage will disrupt mail service ahead of the busy holiday season.

The union issued a 72-hour strike notice earlier this week, saying it had demanded fair wages, safer working conditions and other improvements over nearly a year of negotiations.

“We still believe we can reach negotiated collective agreements, but Canada Post must be willing to resolve our new and outstanding issues,” CUPW said in a statement.

Canada Post forwarded the lockout notice to the union shortly after, but said it had no plans to lock out the workers.

The government corporation issued a statement on Friday morning, confirming that customers would experience delays. Mail and parcels will not be delivered during the strike and some post offices will be closed.

Canada Post says the facility closures will affect its national network, processing and delivering mail that may take time to return to normal once the strike is over.

Ahead of the strike deadline, federal Labor Minister Steven MacKinnon said he had formally appointed the director-general of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Services as a special mediator to help with the talks.

“We’re making sure these two groups have everything they need to reach an agreement,” he said in a post on X.