Labor deal reached at Canfor Pulp

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, July 7 (Reuters) - Canfor Pulp (CFX_u.TO: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and its unionized workers have reached a tentative agreement on a new four-year labor deal, the union and company said on Monday.

Financial details of the deal were not released but it includes wage and benefit increases along with improved severance provisions, the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union and Canfor said in a joint statement.

The union said it hopes to use the agreement as a pattern in its bargaining with other Canadian pulp producers, while the company said the agreement will provide it with labor stability in the short term.

Canfor Pulp, which is majority owned by forestry giant Canfor Corp (CFP.TO: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), has a total work force of about 1,200, and has two pulp mills and one pulp and paper mill in Prince George, British Columbia. (Reporting Allan Dowd, Editing by Peter Galloway)