Cargill workers returning to work for the first time Monday morning after the meat plant was shuttered due to a COVID-19 outbreak, were greeted by Local union members and handed face masks.
And Thomas Hesse, United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 401 president, said the vast majority of the workers at the plant just north of High River feel in danger.
“We spoke with 650 workers in a special survey that we did and 80 per cent of them said ‘don’t open the plant today,’” Hesse said outside the Cargill plant for the restart early on May 4. “And 85 per cent of them said they were scared to come to work.
“So (Cargill) don’t listen to me, listen to the people who work for you.”
The survey was done over the weekend.
Cargill was shuttered on April 20 after an employee died from COVID-19. As of May 4, there were 936 Cargill employees have tested positive for COVID-19.
Of those 810 have recovered. There have been more than 1,500 cases linked to Cargill outbreak. The plant was running two shifts on May 4.
Cargill stated on April 29 that additional safety measures will be implemented at the plant as well as transportation to and from work. Vehicles must not carry more than two people – one in the front and one in the back – and buses with protective barriers will help employees travel to the plant, it said.
In addition, the company said it has added barriers in bathrooms and reassigned lockers to space out workers.
“Cargill, with support from Alberta Health Services (AHS) and Occupational, Health and Safety (OHS), will resume operations at its High River, Alta. protein facility with two shifts beginning this morning, May 4,” said a press release from Cargill on May 4. “All employees who are healthy and eligible to work in our harvest department are asked to report to work. Fabrication shifts will resume on May 6.
“In keeping with our extensive focus on safety, we want to emphasize that employees should be healthy and not had contact with anyone with the COVID-19 virus for 14 days.
“According to health officials, the majority of our employees remain healthy or have recovered. We are grateful for our workers’ dedication and resilience as our plant and community walks through this heart-wrenching pandemic. We are poignantly aware that being an essential worker is not easy. The health and safety of our employees continues to be our top priority.”
The union took legal action on May 1 to protect the workers from going from back to work.
“The Labour Relations Board appointed a special mediator and we did have talks over the weekend,” Hesse said. “They are ongoing, but unfortunately we haven’t yet seen the sorts of protocol put into place and procedures galvanized that should be happening at a place like this.”
The announcement Cargill was re-opening was made last week.
Alberta Health Services officials will be on site this week to ensure that all infection prevention control measures are being followed, and provide additional assistance if needed, according to a provincial government press release.
Occupational Health and Safety is conducting an investigation at the Cargill meat processing plant, according to a press release.
This investigation will look at the circumstances surrounding potential exposure of workers at Cargill related to COVID-19. This will also include an investigation of any potential non-compliance that may have affected the health and safety of workers at the facility. OHS made on-site inspections on April 27 and 29 and were on site on May 4. Hesse said he has heard reports that Cargill has taken steps to protect the workers. The union did have a representative inside the plant on May 4. There have also been concerns of employees spreading COVID-19 by carpooling to Cargill.
Cargill has provided buses for transportation.However, Hesse said they weren’t being used in great numbers by the workers.
“We have seen a few school buses come in, but obviously it is not catching on,” Hesse said.
He said he saw one bus that had one employee and another with more workers.
“I don’t know where they have set it up,” he said. “I don’t know where the bus stop is and if I don’t know, and I am the president of the union, then surely the workers don’t know.”
He said employees do carpool to save money.
“You have to find that balance between human life and making a living,” he said, adding a starting production worker at the plant would make around $20 an hour.
AHS will also continue working with community organizations, Primary Care Networks and the municipalities to help support those already impacted by the outbreak.
During her press conference on May 4, Alberta chief medical health officer Deena Hinshaw said she has heard stories of discrimination against employees of Cargill and the JBS plant in Brooks which has also had a COVID-19 outbreak.
“When people are stigmatized or targeted it blocks our collective ability to control the spread as people may fear getting tested or talking to public health,” she said. “We should be supporting people who are in this situation, not stigmatizing them.”
She said employees at the plants should not be blamed for spreading COVID-19.
With files from Krista Conrad
A correction was made from the original article posted this morning. There are two shifts.
