The United Transportation Union said Friday it plans to meet with CN Rail on Saturday afternoon in Montreal for exploratory talks on resuming collective bargaining.

The UTU represents 2,800 conductors and yard service workers who rejected a tentative one-year labour deal with CN earlier this week.

CN Rail locked out hundreds of unionized employees Wednesday afternoon after they began rotating strikes at five locations across Canada.

The unionized workers originally went on strike for 15 days in February. After federal Labour Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn tabled back-to-work legislation on Feb. 24, the company and the union reached the tentative deal that was rejected earlier this week.

The walkout crippled freight service and took a serious toll on some industries. Figures for February released Friday showed that the labour disruption contributed to a sharp drop in Canada's trade surplus, with exports dropping $800 million.

The back-to-work legislation remains tabled, with members of Parliament away until their Easter break ends on Monday.