Employees at the Cargill meat-processing plant in High River, Alberta were back on the job on Monday at the home of the largest single-site Covid-19 outbreak in Canada.
Cargill ordered the workers back last week, prompting their union, the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 401, to seek a stop-work order from Alberta Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) and file an unfair labour practice complaint against both the Cargill plant and the Government of Alberta.
“Unfortunately, the situation has not been resolved. At this moment, we have been unable to convince any government or legal authority to have the courage to step in and ensure the plant remains closed until safety is assured. Our lawyers are looking at new strategies,” UFCW Local 401 president Thomas Hesse said on the union’s website.
Speaking to reporters Monday outside the facility where he and other union members were on hand to greet workers as they arrived, Hesse said it appeared many employees are staying away.
“I have no doubt that it’s going to be very slow. People are scared, they’re not coming to work. It’s a problem for everyone. It’s a problem for ranchers, it’s a problem for consumers, it’s a problem for workers,” he said.
“And Cargill needs to fix this, and they need to fix it now.”
The union surveyed more than 600 workers in four languages–English, Spanish, Tagalog and Punjabi–over the weekend; 85 per cent reported they were afraid to return to work and 80 per cent said they did not want the plant to reopen Monday.
A large percentage of the workers at Alberta meat plants are Filipino, some of whom are temporary foreign workers (TFWs) and others who are permanent residents.
With files from CBC News (Sarah Rieger, Joel Dryden), The Canadian Press, RCI
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