Tentative Deal Between MGEU And Province
Manitoba and its 14,000 civil servants have reached a tentative agreement on a new contract.
No details were provided as the deal is subject to a ratification vote in the new year.
The province's civil servants had been working without a contract for nearly two years. The last deal expired in March 2014.
Negotiations on financial matters began more than a year ago but reached an impasse this past August.
The government said it was sticking to its final offer -- a four-year deal with annual wage increases of one, one, two and two per cent. The union countered with four two-per cent hikes.
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Sheep Not Part of US COOL Repeal
While some in Canada's agriculture sector are celebrating the removal of U.S Country of Origin Labeling legislation, not all are happy.
Two weeks ago the U.S. Senate passed a bill which repealed mandatory labeling laws on beef and pork, but the legislation is still in effect for sheep.
Corlena Patterson, executive director of the Canadian Sheep Federation, says lamb producers are not happy the Canadian government accepted the partial repeal of COOL.
Since COOL laws were put in place, Patterson says the Canadian sheep industry has lost 18 million dollars in annual export revenues. She says these laws have acted as a trade restriction for Canadian sheep.
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Legumex Liquidation
The specialty grain company formerly known as Legumex Walker Incorporated is going ahead with a previously announced voluntary liquidation.
L-W-P Capital Incorporated says a plan outlined in an October 12th filing with regulators goes into effect today, when its shares will be delisted from the Toronto Stock Exchange. Its board of directors has also resigned.
Winnipeg-based Legumex announced in September that it would sell its main assets -- a specialty crops division that handles sunflower seeds, flax, canary seed, lentils, chickpeas and other pulses -- for $174-million to the Scoular Company.
Scoular is a 123-year-old grain company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, with about $6-billion in annual sales.
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Former Premier Dies At 81
Manitoba Premier Greg Selinger is calling former N-D-P premier Howard Pawley a true champion for social justice.
Pawley has died at the age of 81.
He became premier in 1981 and won another term in 1986.
Pawley led an administration that brought in the province's public auto insurance system, changes to the labour code to ensure workers were paid fairly, and the inclusion of sexual orientation in the Manitoba Human Rights code.
