Prince George, B.C. – Negotiators for  CN and Unifor, the union which represents nearly 5,000 CN workers,  will be back at the bargaining table today.The two sides are hoping to iron out an agreement that will avert a lockout, which CN has  said will take effect at 8 p.m. Pacific time if there is no agreement  before then.

The two sides in the  contract talks  met yesterday   with Unifor President Jerry Dias and CN President  and CEO Claude Mongeau having  what Unifor  called “meaningful dialogue”.

Unifor has six collective agreements with CN Rail, which cover mechanics, clerical workers, excavator operators, locomotive engineers (Savage Rail) and truck drivers. Unifor Local 100 represents skilled trades in mechanical shops and Unifor Council 4000 represents intermodal, clerical, mechanics and owner operators. Unifor is the largest union at CN with more than 4,800 members.