Workers at Cargill’s beef packing plant in southern Alberta have voted in favour of a contract that will hike wages by 21 per cent and provide improved health benefits.
“The contract is the best of its kind and presented unprecedented gains in this time of economic and political uncertainty,” United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 401 said Saturday in a statement.
“A victory has been won and this is a day to celebrate.”
Last month, the 2,000-plus employees at the High River facility south of Calgary voted heavily in favour of going on strike and the union had set Dec. 6 as their planned strike date. The workers later voted to reject an offer from Cargill that prompted the company to issue a lockout notice, also due to take effect Monday.
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However, a new agreement was hammered out after “marathon” negotiations and the union recommended that its members voted in favour.
The UFCW-represented workers voted 71 per cent in favour of the new agreement, the company and union said in separate statements Saturday.
In addition to a 21 per cent wage increase (a $5/hour hike) over the life of the contract, the union also said many workers would receive more than $6,000 in bonuses — up to $4,200 in retroactive pay, a $1,000 signing bonus, and a $1,000 “COVID-19 bonus.”
The virus overshadowed the negotiations, which followed in the wake of two major outbreaks at the High River plant. The first in April 2020 resulted in a two-week shutdown, with half of the workforce reportedly infected by the virus. Two employees died after contracting COVID-19.
“As the site of North America’s largest COVID-19 outbreak, it has been a challenging time for the workers and their families,” UFCW Local 401 said in its statement. “The Cargill High River plant saw hundreds of workers grow ill, suffer, experience terror, and even die.”
The plant has capacity to slaughter about 4,500 cattle per day, about 36 per cent of Canada’s domestic beef processing capacity.
“We are pleased to have reached an agreement that is comprehensive, fair, and reflective of (the employees’) commitment to excellence at Cargill and the critical role they play in feeding families across Canada,” Jarrod Gillig, the company’s business operations and supply chain president for its North American protein lines, said in an emailed statement after the ratification was announced.
“As an organization that leads with our value to put people first, we truly believe this ratification is in the best interests of our employees and we are eager to move forward to build a stronger future — together.”
As for UFCW, it said it will now focus on the country’s other big processing plant, the JBS facility at Brooks.
“In Brooks, 2,500 employees who process beef at the JBS plant are watching the Cargill precedent carefully,” it said. “In the New Year, we head into bargaining for their new contract.”
— Glenn Cheater is editor of Alberta Farmer Express. Includes files from Glacier FarmMedia Network staff.
