Engineers with Canadian National Railway have filed an unfair labor practices complaint against their employer. The complaint is connected to the ongoing strike by 5,000 CN maintenance workers who belong to the Canadian Auto Workers union. About 1,300 of those workers are based in Winnipeg.

CN has kept the trains running by having managers do the jobs of those on the picket lines. The unfair labor practice charge filed last week with the Canadian Industrial Relations Board is related to supervisors doing the work of the engineers.

"In fact, just in the past 12 hours in Winnipeg, we have several documented instances when we had a number of people available to do the work, they had supervisors performing it," says Bruce Willows, spokesman for the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers.

Willows says managers have caused a derailment and at least one minor injury in CN's rail yards in Winnipeg.

Willows says the head of his union will fly to Winnipeg for a meeting on Thursday with federal government officials. The engineers based in Winnipeg say if their safety concerns are not met, they will join the striking workers on the picket line.

A spokesman for CN said he was not aware of the unfair labor practice complaint.