Workers picket outside the Farmers Dairy plant in Bedford last month. (CBC)

A tentative deal has been reached in the contract dispute at Farmers Dairy.

The deal was reached at in the early hours of Thursday morning, said Kim Power, representative with fhe Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada.

The union was called to a meeting with company representatives Wednesday afternoon, but it wasn't expected that bargaining would resume, Power said.

"It was my understanding that we were going to the meeting to get information from the company, and talks just resumed from yesterday afternoon," she said.

Power said she would have more details about the deal later Thursday.

About 240 workers have been picketing the plant for about six weeks, with the workers saying they had been locked out and the company saying the workers were on strike.

A sticking point in the contract dispute had been pension cutbacks.

Union members will likely vote on the proposed deal within the next few days.

Farmers Dairy welcomed the tentative agreement.

"This tentative agreement reflects compromise and willingness on both sides to reach an agreement which meets the needs of our company and our union employees," Derek Estabrook, vice president of marketing, with Farmers Dairy, said Thursday.

"We're looking forward to a successful resolution to the strike and to welcoming our union employees back to work."

Estabrook said Farmers Dairy won't reveal any details of the tentative agreement until the union votes on the proposal.