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July 31, 1997
Tentative deal reached in meat plant strikeCALGARY (CP) - Workers at the Cargill Foods meat packing plant in High River, Alta., could be back at work early next week after their union and the company reached a tentative contract Thursday.Union members are expected to vote today on a deal that would see them on the job by Tuesday, said Wayne Covey, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers local that represents striking Cargill employees. Details of the deal were not released. "We came in and bargained, and hopefully ... it will be ratified and we'll come in next week," said Covey. The deal came shortly after the union and Cargill began meeting Thursday to discuss a new company offer to end the three-week dispute. The meat-packing plant's 1,600 workers have been on strike since July 11 over wages and working conditions. "We have always said from day one that we were always willing to go back to the bargaining table, but there had to be an offer different than the one that was rejected by 91 per cent," said Covey. That offer - made by the company just days after workers walked off the job - consisted of a contract that would raise wages by $1.50 an hour over four years from current rates of between $11.70 and $13.30 per hour. The plant has been operating at about 25 per cent capacity with the use of replacement workers. Covey said he was unsure if the strike would have any lingering effect on morale or the union's relationship with management. "Hopefully, when this is over everyone can go back to work and get back to the business of killing cattle." Cargill spokeswoman Barb Isman said she doesn't expect any lingering animosity among the workers if the deal is ratified. "We were pretty clear from the beginning that we would operate the plant," said Isman. "People by and large conducted themselves reasonably well. Past experience in this realm tells us that if it's not a long duration ... you don't get any prolonged difficulty. "Both parties had an interest in finding a way to resolve this." Isman said Cargill did not lose much business because of the strike. "We had built up fairly significant inventories and we moved the kill up. In terms of loss of business, it's not substantial." Cargill is one of the largest meat packers in the country. |