U.S. meatpacking giant Cargill and union workers at one of Canada's biggest beef plants are bracing for a showdown, with talks early next week offering up a chance to break a labor impasse that threatens to upend the country s meat supply. Cargill is expected to meet union representatives from the company's beef processing plant in High River, Alberta on Tuesday in what is likely to be a final attempt to reach a deal on a new labor contract for about 2,000 workers. Cargill's facility accounts for approximately 40% of Canadian beef processing capacity, so any threats of a strike or lockout could disrupt the nation's meat supply, as beef prices are already soaring amid supply chain snags. Cargill's last offer included a 19% wage hike over the course of the five-year contract, plus a one-time C $1,200 $940 bonus. It was rejected by workers from the United Food and Commercial Workers Canada Union Local 401 on November 24. The plant workers will go on strike on December 6 at 12: 01 a.m. unless a deal is reached, according to the union. Cargill responded with the threat of locking out employees on that date and moving production to other facilities to avoid disruption.
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Scott Payne, a spokesman for UFCW Local 401, said in an interview that we've reached the end. It is their final flex of muscle, saying we either get a deal next week or we're locking you out. The labor dispute comes about a year after a massive Covid 19 outbreak at the High River plant sickened nearly half of the facility's 2,000 staff and caused disruptions across the Canadian meat supply chain. The facility closed because of the spread of infections, leaving thousands of cows awaiting slaughter on farms and prompting McDonald s Corp.'s Canadian unit to import beef to meet its needs.
In Canada and the U.S., Meat plants became hot spots for Covid last year due to outbreaks that forced the closure of some of the biggest slaughterhouses. Employees work in close proximity on some processing lines, sometimes referred to as elbow-to- elbow. The workers are pushing for Cargill to put forward an offer acknowledging that, Payne said. He said that Cargill will probably have a hard time finding replacement workers in the event of a stoppage, as the meat processing jobs require special training and Cargill is already having difficulty attracting new staff. As economies are recovering from a flu epidemic, workers across North America have been able to get the upper hand in labor negotiations. A four week strike at Deere Co.'s U.S. plants ended earlier this month after 10,000 unionized workers accepted a contract that boosted pay and retirement benefits. For Cargill's High River plant workers, company spokesman Dan Sullivan says its current offer is five times higher than the industry standard. He said that we remain determined and hopeful that we can reach an agreement during this period.
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