DHL Express workers on strike after company locks them out, adding to parcel sector turmoil

Unifor says DHL Express Canada locked out workers just after midnight Sunday as the two sides failed to reach a contract deal, injecting more labour turmoil into the country's parcel delivery market.

The union, which represents 2,100 truck drivers, couriers and warehouse workers across seven provinces, says they went on strike in response at 11 a.m. ET.

Unifor says the German-owned carrier is proposing to change the driver pay system and planning to use replacement workers before legislation banning them comes into effect on June 20.

DHL Express says it served the stoppage notice Thursday and that Unifor advised of a strike the following day.

In a statement sent by spokesperson Pamela Duque Rai, the company said the new payment system is "designed to address changes to the economic viability and operational structure of the Canadian market."

It said it had proposed a 15 per cent salary increase over five years, with a five per cent increase in the first year of a new contract.

"Unfortunately, there simply was not enough progress to result in a new collective agreement," the statement said.

The work stoppage, which affects package delivery across the country, comes as Canada Post remains at loggerheads with 55,000 workers, whose union last month imposed an overtime ban that scales back parcel services.

Unifor says a work stoppage could disrupt next weekend's Formula One Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal, where DHL is responsible for transporting the turbocharged race cars.

Unifor says its bargaining priorities remain wages, working conditions and surveillance and automation in the workplace.