NL

Country Ribbon workers approve new contract

Work will continue at Country Ribbon now that workers have ratified a new deal.

No specifics provided following Sunday night vote, but NAPE says it means more money

The Country Ribbon chicken-processing facility is located in Pleasantville, in the east end of St. John's. (CBC)

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

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

The tentative agreement preventing 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