Cargill beef-processing plant in High River, Alta. narrowly avoids strike action

Employees at Cargill's beef-processing plant in High River, Alta., have voted in favour of a new labour contract, narrowly avoiding strike action and a possible lockout.

United Food and Commercial Workers Local 401 (UFCW), which represents workers at the plant, said Saturday that workers chose to accept the new contract offer, with 71 per cent voting in favour.

In a statement, UFCW said it was not an easy decision for staff at the plant, and called the contract vote a "bittersweet victory." 

Workers had raised safety concerns after a COVID-19 outbreak at the plant in 2020 affected more than 900 people. The outbreak, which forced Cargill to temporarily close the plant — one of Canada's largest — is linked to three deaths.

The union says the new contract includes procedures to ensure worker health and safety, benefits, and new rights for sick employees. 

After the two sides held talks on Tuesday, UFCW's bargaining committee agreed to recommend the new offer to its members, Cargill spokesperson Daniel Sullivan said. Workers voted between Thursday and Saturday.

The union released parts of the proposed offer to CBC earlier in the week. The contract included $4,200 in retroactive pay for many Cargill union members; signing, holiday and COVID-19 bonuses; and a $5 wage increase.

UFCW had said the plant's roughly 2,000 workers would strike Monday unless an agreement was reached.

The union also said workers were prepared to use tents, floodlights and heaters for the possible strike, while nearby fields would have been levelled to provide parking.

Cargill had also planned to lock out all UFCW union staff as of 12:01 a.m. Monday, according to a statement from the company's vice-president of labour relations, Tanya Teeter, which was obtained and made public by the union.

"We also look forward to the citizens of Alberta joining with us in calling for reforms and restructuring in the meatpacking industry," UFCW President Thomas Hesse wrote in a statement Saturday. 

"Workers have been ripped off. Ranchers have been ripped off. And we've all been ripped off at the supermarket counter. Government failed to protect these workers, as well as failing to protect Alberta ranchers and consumers. Change must occur." 

The Cargill plant processes up to 4,500 head of cattle per day, accounting for about one-third of Canada's beef.