(The Canadian Press circulated the following on June 3.)
VANCOUVER — Officials from Canadian Pacific Railway and the Teamsters union are meeting with federal mediators in Ottawa.
Federal Labour Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn told the Canadian Press in a phone interview from Ottawa that he invited the parties to the Sunday meeting.
More than 1,200 Canadian Pacific Railway maintenance workers walked off the job May 16.
Shippers have voiced concerns a prolonged strike could derail their businesses.
CP Rail has said the dispute is not disrupting its tightly scheduled freight runs despite pickets delaying trucks at sites in Vancouver and Toronto.
The mediators had been talking with the two sides but Blackburn did not initially want to interfere with the situation.
He said the union had a right to strike under the Canada Labour Code.
CP Rail and the Teamsters reached a stalemate in May after months of contract negotiations.
The union, which represents 3,200 maintenance workers, asked for a 13 per cent pay raise over four years against CP Rail’s offer of 10 per cent over the same period.