MONTREAL — The union representing striking conductors and yard workers at CN Rail (TSX:CNR) says the company had nothing new to offer during five hours of talks on Saturday in Montreal.

Representatives of CN Rail and the United Transportation Union Canada met for exploratory talks in the wake of UTU members' April 10 rejection of a tentative contract.

"Just as we feared, CN had nothing to say to suggest that there might be any improvement in the rejected deal," UTU Canada vice-presidents Bob Sharpe and John Armstrong said in a release.

CN has not commented on Saturday's talks.

Seventy-nine per cent of UTU members who voted rejected the one-year deal, which included a three per cent wage increase, a $1,000 signing bonus and removal of the company's requests for concessions. Voter turnout was 70 per cent.

The tentative deal, reached Feb. 24, came after the federal government threatened to bring in back-to-work legislation.

"Today's talks were frank and courteous and they ended with no further talks scheduled," said Sharpe.

Armstrong said CN's lockouts of union members are continuing across the country.

For its part, the union has been calling walkouts in various locations.

The union's national office said Friday that workers in Halifax, Edmonton and Sioux Lookout, Ont., had joined members in Vancouver, Kamloops, B.C., and Oakville Ont. in rotating strikes.

But CN said there were no pickets in those locations and Bill Johnson, president of the UTU local in Halifax, said Friday it was business as usual there.

The UTU is beset with internal strife and Johnson said many of the 2,800 conductors and yard workers have "lost faith in our bargaining committee.''

"These are not the members that we elected to do our negotiating. These are members that have been put in place by the American mother union and a lot of members don't feel that they can negotiate us a contract that is acceptable coast to coast.''

Johnson said no resolution is likely until elected union officials such as former Canadian negotiator Rex Beatty are reinstated.