TORONTO - Talks to resolve a strike by Canada National Railways locomotive engineers remained at a standstill Sunday as the two sides remained at loggerheads over whether to return to the bargaining table.

CN rejected the latest proposal by Teamsters Canada Rail Conference to get negotiations back on track.

Through federal mediators, the union offered late Saturday night to submit the wage portion of the dispute to binding arbitration upon the resolution of other outstanding issues.

But the company's communications director said the railway reviewed the offer and found it unreasonable.

"This proposal would not end the strike," said Mark Hallman.

"Rather, it would continue the negotiations for an undefined period of time over the same work rules we've been discussing for 14 months."

Management is demanding the union submit all outstanding issues to binding arbitration, not just wage matters.

The union did not return calls Sunday but released a statement outlining its proposal.

"CN must accept their responsibility in this dispute as well" said union president Daniel Shewchuk.

"We do not feel our position on wages is excessive as they are in line with what CN has negotiated with other unions. Nevertheless, in an effort to move the process forward we indicated that we are prepared to submit the issue of wage increases to final and binding arbitration."

Talks broke down late Friday and the 1,700 engineers walked off the job shortly after.

Canada's largest railway wants to imposed a 1.5 per cent wage increase and raise the maximum distance engineers can travel in one month by 500 miles to 4,300 miles.

The union argues the hike in the mileage cap would require some workers to work seven days a week, with no time off, and cause layoffs.

Canada's labour minister has also urged the union to accept binding arbitration and offered to appoint an arbitrator as soon as it gave the OK.

Rona Ambrose also vowed not to support the labour disruption at a time when Canada's economy is still recovering.

But Ambrose was criticized for her handling of the strike by the Liberals Sunday and Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff called on the federal government to get negotiations back on track.

In a statement, Ignatieff said the Conservatives needed to protect businesses and shippers who rely on the cross-country rail network from suffering economic losses.

Ignatieff says Canadians need a fully functioning transportation system -- which means they need their government to get this dispute resolved.

It's unclear how much effect the strike is having on CN operations. The rail company is trying to keep trains running by having supervisors and managers who are qualified engineers take over the strikers' duties for the duration of the strike.

"We continue to execute on our contingency plan," Hallman said.

"We're prepared to do that as long as it takes, to get the settlement we require."