Both Maine Mariners games scheduled for Portland this weekend were postponed after the players union went on strike amid a monthslong labor dispute with the ECHL hockey league.

The Mariners had been set to host the Worcester Railers on Friday night and the Trois-Rivières Lions on Saturday afternoon at Cross Insurance Arena. A message on Ticketmaster’s website said tickets for those games will still be valid when the matchups are rescheduled.

Members of the Professional Hockey Players’ Association announced this week that players in the ECHL were prepared to stop work, accusing the league of obstructing collective bargaining with unfair labor practices.

The strike took effect Friday, when games had been scheduled to resume after a holiday break, according to the union, which represents players in the ECHL, formerly known as the East Coast Hockey League.

The ECHL issued a statement Friday, saying the league had made its “last, best and final offer” to the players’ union Thursday. Any future offers by the league “likely will need to account for losses in revenue attributable to missed games from a player strike,” the statement read.

The union said in its own statement that it had filed an unfair labor practice charge against the league after several months of bargaining.

“We are asking for basic standards around health, safety and working conditions that allow the players to remain healthy, compete at a high level and build sustainable professional careers,” Brian Ramsay, the executive director of the PHPA, said in the statement Monday. “Our members have never been more united and remain ready to return to the bargaining table at any time.”

Efforts to reach Ramsay and the players union for further comment Friday were unsuccessful.

The PHPA represents players in the American Hockey League and the ECHL, the two largest minor leagues in North American professional ice hockey.

Mariners players circulated a joint statement addressed to fans and the Portland community on social media Friday, expressing gratitude for their support and emphasizing that the strike “should not be viewed as a reflection of the Maine Mariners.”

“Our owner, Dexter Paine, alongside our staff, has consistently demonstrated professionalism and respect throughout this process,” the players’ statement read in part. “We firmly believe the Mariners are one of the top organizations when it comes to how we are supported and treated.”

Paine, in his own statement Friday afternoon, thanked the players for their supportive remarks. He also said the team is “saddened and disappointed” about the postponements and that “our first thoughts are with our fans and employees.”

Paine said the team does not anticipate any changes or reductions to staff “at this time” and remains committed to its partners and supporters, which he promised to keep “as updated as possible” during the strike.

Michael Keeley, the team’s director of media relations and broadcasting, said Friday afternoon that the team would not be offering additional comment beyond Paine’s statement.

In their statement, the Mariners players spoke about the “differences at the league level” between various teams.

“We believe there should be minimum standards across all teams so that, regardless of where we play, player safety, travel and compensation meet an acceptable baseline,” the players said. “We have seen many teammates pursue opportunities outside of North America, and we believe these initiatives are essential to retaining talent and strengthening the league as a whole.”

The Mariners team social media account shared a statement from the ECHL in posts Friday that accused the union of forcing all players in the league to go on strike.

“This could also result in the postponement or rescheduling of additional games, and we will be in direct communication with our fans and supporters as soon as practicable if that is the case,” the statement read. “But know that we’re working to have a team on the ice for our next regularly scheduled home game.”

The Mariners’ next matchup would be a visit to Trois-Rivières on Sunday afternoon in Quebec, followed by a visit to Glens Falls, New York, on Wednesday for a game against the Adirondack Thunder. Their next home game is scheduled for Jan. 2, also against the Thunder. Those games had not been postponed as of Friday.

The Mariners are 11-8 on the season, with three overtime losses and one shootout loss, good for fifth place out of nine teams in the Eastern Conference’s North Division and 16th overall in the 30-team league.

The ECHL is the third tier of North American professional hockey, below the NHL and the AHL. Most ECHL teams serve as developmental teams for nearby NHL and AHL teams; the Mariners are affiliated with the Boston Bruins and their AHL team, the Providence Bruins.

The NHL Players Association issued a statement Tuesday saying its members “stand in solidarity” with the PHPA while urging the ECHL to “abandon their attempts to threaten players” and reach a good-faith agreement with the union.