Canada's largest railway warns it will lock out 4,800 Unifor union members late Monday night if the two sides fail to negotiate a new contract.
CN  urged the union late Friday to accept binding arbitration as the best way to settle their outstanding contractual dispute. Barring such an agreement over the weekend, CN said it will exercise its right under the Canada Labour Code to lock out Unifor's members at 11 p.m. Monday night.
Unifor said earlier this week it will begin taking a strike vote and will set a strike deadline in late March after talks between the two sides hit an impasse. A major stumbling block is CN's rejection of a union demand that the railway help finance a union social and community action fund.
Unifor negotiated such a measure in a new deal with CP Rail – Canada's second-biggest railway, last weekend – and wants to match that pattern with CN.
The railway says it has offered wage hikes and other benefits but said such an idea of a social action fund goes against the company's core principles.
"The differences separating the company and union are as clear as they will ever be, and they will not become any clearer over a month-long strike mandate process announced yesterday by Unifor," said Claude Mongeau, president and CEO of CN.
"Our impasse is not about charity. CN already supports many charities and is willing to support charitable causes jointly with Unifor, but our principles are clear – we are not prepared to allow financial matters related to the union itself to take precedence over the interest[s] of our employees."
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CN warns it will lock out Unifor workers Monday night without deal

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