DHL Express Canada workers were locked out just after midnight on June 8 and went on strike in response hours later, after the two sides failed to reach a deal on a new collective bargaining agreement.

According to a release from Unifor — a trade union that represents DHL Express Canada's 2,100 drivers, couriers and warehouse workers across seven provinces — the company issued a lockout notice on June 4, four days before negotiations were scheduled to end. In a statement to CBC News, a DHL Express spokesperson said that the company had proposed a 15% salary increase over five years, but "there was simply not enough progress" in talks to indicate that the two sides would come to an agreement in time.

Unifor claims that the company is pushing to implement changes to pay systems that would have drivers travel more than 60 miles to get to their routes or pick up freight with no compensation. The union also says that DHL Express added "numerous new proposals and concessions" hours before it issued its lockout notice. 

Should the work stoppage drag on, it could disrupt June 15's Formula One Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal, given that DHL is responsible for transporting the race cars used in the competition. This also comes as the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) continues to be at odds with Canada Post (CP), after workers instituted a national ban on overtime on May 23. Labor talks between CP and the CUPW are ongoing, with Minister of Jobs and Families Patty Hajdu calling sides back to the bargaining table on June 5 to work with federal mediators on a new contract.