The disruption at a maintenance works in Bellinzona centres on plans by the Federal Railways to axe more than a hundred jobs in the city, which is capital of the southern Italian-speaking canton of Ticino.

On Friday strikers described the latest proposals by their employer to try to solve the dispute as "shameful".

After a meeting on Thursday with strike representatives, Federal Railways chief executive Andreas Meyer had spoken of constructive talks and a step towards a roundtable dialogue.

Swiss Transport Minister Moritz Leuenberger earlier this week appealed to both sides to try to resolve the dispute. He called on workers to end the strike and on the Federal Railways board to review its plans.

The strike was called after the loss-making freight unit announced plans to axe around 400 jobs – 126 of them in Bellinzona. The restructuring plans came after the unit lost SFr190 million ($185.73 million) in 2007.