A lockout of more than 4,800 CN Rail employees has been averted after a tentative agreement between the company and Unifor was reached late last night.
CN had set an 11 p.m. deadline before the lockout would be implements, and both the company and the unions say they are thankful things didn't reach that point.
"We are very pleased that the company and union were able to find common ground on a tentative new labour contract. This settlement forecloses the prospect of a potential labour disruption that would have harmed CN's employees, its customers and the Canadian economy," said CN president and CEO Claude Mongeau.
"We're pleased that we were able to reach a negotiated agreement and avoid a major national lock-out of our members. We were able to find solutions to the concerns raised by our members – this is best achieved at the bargaining table," said Unifor president Jerry Dias, noting the agreement had unanimous support of the bargaining committee.
Details of the agreement will not be made public until it is ratified by Unifor members at ratification meetings scheduled across the country over the next three weeks.