Workers picketed a Halifax-area Farmers Dairy plant on Sunday, with the workers saying they had been locked out and the company saying the workers were on strike.

A Farmers Dairy spokesman said the Nova Scotia-based firm would continue processing milk at the plant for the duration of the job action.

Many of the affected employees work at the company's processing and packaging plant on Hammond's Plains Road near Bedford, N.S., the site of the picket line.

The Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada, which represents the workers, said a sticking point in the contract dispute is pension cutbacks.

Talks broke down last week and on Wednesday the company filed a notice to lock the workers out and the union filed notice to strike. On Sunday, both said the other followed through Friday night.

Either way, the 240 workers who help pasteurize the milk, package it and distribute it across the across the Maritimes are off the job.

There were no immediate plans to return to the negotiating table.

The picketing workers were allowing transport trucks and private security vans to cross the line.

"They've got scab workers on the inside, man, and we've got guys with 23 years and more experience out here and it takes time to get that experience and ship properly," said Cedric Parsons, a forklift loader at the plant.

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/nova-scotia/story/2010/07/11/ns-farmers-work-stoppage.html#ixzz0tQylesiW