12:42 PM EDT, 06/06/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Canadian National Railway ( CNI ) Thursday said it formally offered the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) to enter into binding arbitration earlier this week.

This process has a mutually agreed upon independent arbitrator settle the labor dispute by evaluating the demands of each side and deciding on the terms of the new collective agreement.

The TCRC has rejected all offers put to them and has now rejected a voluntary arbitration process, the railway said.

CN said it initially attempted to modernize the collective agreement to improve work/ife balance for employees and productivity through scheduling and hourly wages. Currently, engineers and conductors do not work on a schedule and are paid on a legacy miles-based system.

The union refused to negotiate substantively on this matter, CN claims. The company made a simplified offer to the union in May that continued to be aligned with Government guidelines on work and rest and achieved some productivity gains. The union rejected this offer as well.

In its most recent update on the negotiations released on May 17, the Teamsters said "Your bargaining committee remains steadfast in working with federal mediators to bring the Company to the table, despite their insistent desire to bargain in the public".

The company's shares were last seen up $0.16 to $172.68 on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Price: 172.73, Change: +0.21, Percent Change: +0.12