TORONTO (Reuters) — The Teamsters union representing conductors, yard workers, and traffic coordinators agreed to meet with Canadian National Railway Co. one last time in hopes of reaching a new a settlement, Canada’s biggest rail operator said late on Saturday.
CN Rail’s labour negotiation offer, made on Friday, was on the condition that the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference accepts a binding arbitration should talks fail.
The union, which represents some 3,000 CN workers, will meet with the railroad next week, the Montreal-based company said.
The latest offer came after members had narrowly rejected a second tentative contract by a vote of 891 to 852, which the union said was because CN was not respecting rest periods under the current contract. CN has declined to comment on the charge.
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After the failed vote, CN initially asked to settle unresolved issues through final binding arbitration, a process in which an arbitrator decides the final terms of the contract.
The dispute comes as CN works to comply with a government order to move 5,500 grain cars a week to address a massive bottleneck. The backlog is due to a record-shattering harvest in 2013, exacerbated by transport disruptions due to an extremely cold winter.
