Cargill is facing legal action from the UFCW Local 401 after announcing its intent to reopen the plant on May 4 after being closed for two weeks due to a COVID-19 outbreak.
As of April 28, 766 of 2,000 of the meat-processing plant’s staff had tested positive for the novel coronavirus, with an additional 60 others considered likely to be infected but unable to be swabbed, and of those eight were hospitalized, five in intensive care, and one employee died on April 20.
The United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 401 announced May 1 it is seeking a stop work order from Alberta Occupational Health and Safety and filed an unfair labour practice complaint with Cargill and the Government of Alberta listed as respondents.
In a statement issued by UFCW, president Tom Hesse called the reopening “sheer recklessness” and a “Trumpean push,” noting food worker deaths have been logged as similar meat plants across North America have started their production lines back up.
“Cargill and the Government of Alberta have ignored our calls for a worker-centred approach to ensuring the plant is safe,” Hesse said in the statement issued May 1. “Alberta Health Services inspection reports have not been shared with us, and Occupational Health and Safety inspections have omitted the serious concerns we have raised.”
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Cargill stated on April 29 it would be starting up with one shift, and 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.
It’s not enough, said the UFCW.
“Food workers are afraid to go to work in the current environment,” said Hesse in the statement. “They lack the economic security they need to recover, and they are terrified of bringing this illness to their families and communities. While they try to recover, their employer and government are telling them to get back to work. This recklessly endangers their lives and puts the interest of their bosses first."
In its letter to OHS for the stop work order, the UFCW argues it has not seen proof of proper measures being taken, such as not receiving photos of urinals with barriers to promote physical distancing or how the plant would be addressing a row of tightly-spaced equipment on hooks on a fabrication floor wall.
It further states the company has not addressed how hand-washing and other mitigation efforts would be enforced or the spacing of microwaves and line-ups in the lunch room.
Personal protective equipment has also not been proven to be sufficient: “Provided masks becoming soiled quickly with sweat and fluids from production, interfering with employees’ ability to breathe, and causing fogging of safety glasses,” the letter states.
The union also states it has not been able to confirm the availability of transportation options, like the busing Cargill says will be in place.
In its complaint against Cargill and the Alberta government, the UFCW states the company’s shutting down of second-shift operations earlier in April led to loss of work, confusion, fear and uncertainty among staff and ensured they were afraid to lose their jobs, asserting those employees will return to work to keep their jobs rather than fighting for a safer workplace.
Among the actions requested in its unfair labour practice complaint, the UFCW is demanding an independent, qualified, out-of-province investigator be employed to interview employees and investigate health and safety concerns, as well as an interim order the facility not resume production until the Province and Cargill have met with the union to discuss the results of that report.
Krista Conrad, OkotoksToday.ca
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