MONTREAL, Que. — CAW has notified CN it will launch labour action against the company at 00:01 hours Feb. 20, if new tentative agreements are not reached by then.

Canadian Auto Worker members at the company, including shopcraft, clerical and intermodal yard employees, have rejected three tentative agreements signed by the union and company since their existing contracts expired Dec. 31, 2003.

CN said it regrets the membership’s rejection of the tentative agreements, which were bargained in good faith by CAW and CN negotiators during months of hard work. CN has contingency plans to maintain freight services in Canada in the event of a CAW strike.

The CAW represents approximately 5,000 CN shopcraft, clerical and intermodal yard employees across Canada. Canadian National Railway Company spans Canada and mid-America, from the Atlantic and Pacific oceans to the Gulf of Mexico, serving the ports of Vancouver, Prince Rupert, B.C., Montreal, Halifax, New Orleans, and Mobile, Ala., and the key cities of Toronto, Buffalo, Chicago, Detroit, Duluth, Minn./Superior, Wis., Green Bay, Wis., Minneapolis/St. Paul, Memphis, St. Louis, and Jackson, Miss., with connections to all points in North America.