Full-on wage freeze, but NAPE contract offer also includes no-layoff clause

Details of the contract offer between the Newfoundland and Labrador government and the province's largest union are leaking out, as members get set to vote this month on a contract that will squeeze their wallets.

Executives with the Newfoundland and Labrador Association ofPublic and Private Employees (NAPE) are travelling the province and meeting withclose to 20,000 members to discuss the deal.

Sources have told CBC News that it contains a wage freeze for the remainder of the contract.

As well, there will be no retroactive pay for the part of the contract that has already expired.NAPE members have been without a deal since March 2016.

Softening the financial sting of the tentative deal is an agreement that rules out any layoffs for the term of the contract, according to sources.

Severance payouts

CBC News has also learned that the provincial government is offering to pay out severance to all employees in this fiscal year. The full amount is not known, but it is expected to costmillions of dollars.

While that movewould get the severance liability off the government's books, it's not known where that money will come from.

The two sides reached a "framework" for a collective agreement in November, and at the timeFinance Minister Tom Osborne said it came after"a lot of work, [and] very respectful dialogue."

Both sides are remaining mum on the details for now.

"It would be premature and unfair to discuss details of the agreement at this stage, as the vast majority of our members have not yet had an opportunity to see the full tentative agreement packages themselves," said NAPE President Jerry Earle in a statement to CBCNews Monday afternoon.

Negotiations seemed to take a turn for the better when Osborne replaced former finance minister CathyBennett in August.

"It's been a very difficult and trying time, and now with a change in that portfolio I believe it's an opportunity to take a fresh step in collective bargaining," Earle said at the time.

NAPE has 15bargaining units, and200 ratification votes are planned around the province over the next three weeks.