MONTREAL - CN Rail, the country's biggest railway, could be hit by a strike by its locomotive engineers as soon as Saturday.
The union representing the 1,700 engineers issued 72-hour strike notice Wednesday.
Federal mediators have called both sides to a meeting in Montreal tomorrow.
Although CN says it will be there, it's not immediately clear if union negotiators will attend.
CN Rail and the engineers have been without a contract since the end of last year.
The company wants to raise the mileage cap that would see the engineers work an average of 41 hours a week -- up from the current 37.
A CN spokesman says there's "ample time'' to reach a deal before the strike deadline.
Industry analysts say if there's a walkout, CN Rail could continue to offer some service because many of its managers are qualified engineers.
