Canada Post and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers have agreed to a 24-hour extension of talks, delaying a planned job action by the union.

The union was set to begin a rolling overtime ban today if an agreement wasn't reached.

"We never wanted a labour dispute. We never wanted a work stoppage to happen," expressed Todd Jarema, regional education and organization officer for the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW).

The union has shaken things up with Canada Post, by declaring a 72-hour notice for a strike Thursday evening.

"Our goal is not to try and impact services on the public, which is why we chose not to do overtime. This way, we don't end up impacting the public receiving mail very much. People will be working their regular scheduled hours. We're just asking that they don't take overtime, and that's the notice we sent to Canada Post. People should really see much of a difference," said Jarema.

The potential strike will not be affecting regular mail circuit for now, however, Canada Post may retaliate and shut down mail operation across the country. Jarema believes there is a possibility that this small action to strike won't shake the Crown corporation enough, and CUPW will wait for a response to the matter.

"We'll going to have to re-evaluate at that time and determine what course of action we need to do. Are we going to escalate? At this point, I really can't say. We want to sit down and have a negotiated settlement with Canada Post in respect to this," he said.

"I think it's really unfair that Canada Post is holding the boom over Canadians for things, especially pay equity. I don't think it's right that Canada Post, in this day and age, feel that it's okay to have a bargain unit that is predominantly women and paying them up to 30 per cent."

Prior to the extension, Canada Post had been given until midnight on Sunday to respond.