Christopher Reynolds, The Canadian Press

A government push to steer Canada Post and the union representing 55,000 mail workers toward common ground hit a big pothole Monday.

As an increasingly acrimonious impasse drags on, Canada Post rejected a framework put forward by the union for a binding arbitration process, which Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu asked the parties to work toward just five days earlier.

Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu on Wednesday called on Canada Post and the union representing 55,000 postal workers to return to the bargaining table and hash out terms for binding arbitration, with the two sides still far apart on key issues.

In a social media statement Wednesday, the minister also asked the Crown corporation and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) to continue to work toward a deal outside of that process.

Canada Post on Wednesday laid out its "final offers" to the union representing 55,000 workers after negotiations resumed Wednesday morning, as tensions run high over the future of the beleaguered institution.

Included in the proposal are an end to compulsory overtime, a signing bonus of $1,000 for urban employees and $500 for rural and suburban ones, cost-of-living payments that are triggered at a lower inflation threshold.

Canada Post customers may face delays as tens of thousands of workers swear off overtime shifts, though a much bigger disruption was averted after the union backed down from a strike threat.

Nonetheless, the possibility of escalating job action could continue to scare off customers who pulled their shipments over the past couple of weeks, draining more business from the cash-strapped organization.

“I’m scared for the future,” said Edmonton mail carrier Dustin Ellis, who recently went on leave to study for a new career in social work.

Canada Post says it has received strike notices from the union representing some 55,000 postal workers, with operations poised to shut down by the end of the week.

The Crown corporation says the union informed it that employees plan to hit the picket line starting Friday morning at midnight.

A work stoppage would affect millions of residents and businesses who typically receive more than two billion letters and roughly 300 million parcels a year via the service.

Protesters rallied in several cities across the country on Sunday to demonstrate against Donald Trump's threats to Canadian sovereignty, as backlash to an American president who appears bent on upending the global order gains momentum.

Despite softer-than-expected tariffs against Canada last week and a more cordial tone from the White House over the past week, the echo from Trump's repeated remarks about making Canada the 51st state continues to ring in Canadians' ears.

Canada Post and the postal workers union found slivers of consensus Tuesday amid talks with a special mediator, but "a lot of ground" remains between them on the key concerns as a countrywide strike entered its fifth day.

“On smaller issues, we were able to find some progress,” said Canada Post spokesman Jon Hamilton in a phone interview.

"The special mediator has helped facilitate those discussions. So we're going to continue to be at it. We're committed to getting collective agreements," he said, adding that arbitration is off the table for now.

The economic fallout of the country's rail shutdown is set to come into focus this week as shippers and producers take stock of cargo delays and financial losses.

A work stoppage that began early Thursday morning at Canada's two major railways is slated to end first thing Monday after a decision from the federal labour board ordered the companies and their workers to resume operations.

Canada's two biggest railways say they’re preparing to get trains back on track after Ottawa intervened to end an unprecedented labour impasse that disrupted business across the country and cancelled commutes for thousands.

Canadian National Railway Co., in a statement Thursday, said it has ended the lockout of workers that began earlier in the day.

The move came shortly after Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon said he has asked the Canada Industrial Relations Board to impose binding arbitration to end the dispute and get the trains running.

In a first for Canada, freight traffic on its two largest railways has simultaneously ground to a halt, threatening to upend supply chains trying to move forward from pandemic-related disruptions and a port strike last year.

In the culmination of months of increasingly bitter negotiations, Canadian National Railway Co. and Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd. locked out 9,300 engineers, conductors and yard workers after the parties disagreed on a new contract before the midnight deadline.