Negotiations have resumed between Canada Post (CP) and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW), with just three weeks left until the deadline for a strike or lockout.

According to a release from Canada Post, the two sides were scheduled to meet with a mediator over two days during the week of April 28. At the request of the mediator, CP did not release details about what those negotiations entailed, but vowed to "make every effort to be transparent" in the days and weeks to come. The current contract for CUPW workers expires on May 22, and if a deal isn't reach by then, the union has warned that its members could get locked out, the union could go on strike, or the Canadian government could intervene to force CUPW employees back to work for the second time in six months. 

CUPW workers first went on strike on November 15. Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon suspended federal mediation 12 days later, over concerns that the sides were "too far apart on critical issues." After that, MacKinnon met with CP and CUPW on December 1, before ordering the union to return to work on December 13 under its existing collective bargaining deal.

The two sides then resumed talks in February, but left the table in early March after failing to find common ground. The CUPW has pushed for a 22% pay increase, better benefits, and a guarantee that CP will stop its practice of hiring non-union temporary employees to fill weekend shifts. CP has offered what it claims would be a "more flexible staffing model" that creates new part-time flex positions with guaranteed hours on weekdays, but also asserted in March that the union has "failed to acknowledge the significant challenges" facing the postal service.