Country Ribbon workers approve new contract

Workers at Country Ribbon, a chicken processing facility, have voted in favour of atentative agreement between their employer and union, but the specifics of the deal remain unknown.

• Country Ribbon, NAPE reach tentative agreement to avoid any work stoppage
• No work at Country Ribbon for 'weeks to come,' as company preps for strike

The new contract includes "monetary increases in wages as well as several improvements in contract language," according to Jerry Earle, president of theNewfoundland and Labrador Association of Public and Private Employees (NAPE).

The tentative agreementpreventing a work stoppage was reached on Oct. 19 and ratified on Sunday, Oct. 29.

Employees had earlier rejected an offer from Country Ribbon that would give them a raise of 30 cents an hour each year for the next three years. That offer would have also required employees to work on Saturdays in cases where extreme weather stops operations during the week.

NAPE represents about 300 employees at Country Ribbon's Pleasantville and Cochrane Pond locations