Dockworkers at the Port of Montreal say they are set to begin mediation with their employers after a six-day work stoppage earlier this month.

The union, which represents nearly 1,200 shipping workers, says the two sides have agreed to enter into the process for 90 days, followed by binding arbitration.

The development represents a renewed attempt to negotiate – with outside help – after the Canadian Industrial Relations Board ordered the port’s operations to restart and arbitration was launched to reach a new contract.

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The order was issued after federal Labor Minister Stephen MacKinnon intervened to return workers to their jobs, a move the union said it plans to challenge.

The administration said it will take several weeks to fully restore freight volumes after the shutdown, which ended on November 16.

The work stoppage is the latest in a series of labor standoffs in Canada that have crippled transportation operations over the past 18 months, including at the country’s two largest railways, the Ports of British Columbia and the St. Lawrence Seaway.