Nov 21 (Reuters) - Canada Post and the union

representing thousands of mail carriers reached agreements in

principle on Friday after more than two years of negotiations,

halting all strike and lockout actions.

More than 55,000 postal workers walked off the job on

September 25 after the Canadian government called for the postal

company to undergo a widespread transformation to bolster its

finances and modernize operations.

The postal service has struggled as its letter volume

declines and it faces private-sector competition to ship

parcels.

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers and Canada Post have

yet to finalize tentative collective agreements for signing, the

country's primary postal service said in an emailed statement.

"Both sides have agreed on the main points of the deals, but

we need to agree on the contractual language that will form the

collective agreements that would be put to a vote by the

members," the union said.

CUPW added it will retain the right to strike until the new

agreements are ratified.