Unifor said it has reached a late night deal with Canadian National Railway to avoid a lockout of 4,800 workers.


The union says ratification meetings will be held across the country over the next three weeks.


Details of the agreement will only be disclosed following ratification. The two sides had negotiated for about five months.


The railway had said it would lock out the Unifor members at 11 p.m. eastern time tonight unless the union agreed to binding arbitration to settle contract differences.


"We are very pleased that the company and union were able to find common ground on a tentative new labour contract," Claude Mongeau, president and chief executive officer of CN, said in a statement. "This settlement forecloses the prospect of a potential labour disruption that would have harmed CN's employees, its customers and the Canadian economy."


More to come