BROOKS, AB (UFCW Canada) – Lakeside Packers employees have voted to ratify a first collective agreement ending their strike against the Brooks, Alberta slaughterhouse and processing facility that began on October 12.Lakeside Packers is owned by Arkansas-based Tyson Foods.

The contract was approved by a majority of the workers in a ratification vote held in Brooks, ending a bitter three-week-old strike by members of UFCW Canada Local 401 that had successfully crippled production at the plant.

The contract includes a number of significant gains including wage increases, improvements to short-term disability benefits, union security and grievance procedures, and a requirement that all new hires become members of the union.

Lakeside Packers employs about 2,300 workers and processes about 4,000 head of cattle a day. The new collective agreement had been recommended to the membership by the Lakeside Employees Bargaining Committee and lasts until 2009.