Prairie ranchers brace for potential strike at Cargill plant as deadline looms

In the last two years, prairie ranchers have been dealing with drought, soaring feed costs and pandemic disruptions that led to massive cattle backlogs. 

Now they are watching — and hoping — for progress on labour negotiations at the Cargill meat-packing plant in High River, Alta. The union representing workers at the plant issued a strike notice to the company earlier this month.

Staff could hit the picket line Dec. 6. 

"We are extremely, extremely concerned about that," Melanie Wowk, a rancher and chair at Alberta Beef Producers, said in an interview this week.

The Cargill facility is one of the largest in Canada. It's been estimated that the facility processes about a third of Canada's beef.

Cargill spokesperson Daniel Sullivan said Thursday an agreement has yet to be reached.

But he said the company is optimistic they will be able to reach an agreement, and Cargill is working toward that before the union's strike deadline.

A spokesperson for UFCW Local 401 could not be reached for comment, but a strike notice issued on behalf of workers said employees at the plant have raised health and safety concerns related to COVID-19. 

Last year, a COVID-19 outbreak saw at least 950 staff at the facility — nearly half its workforce — test positive. Two worker deaths were linked to the outbreak, which temporarily shuttered the plant. 

The union has said workers also want improved benefits, for the company to move workers who are awarded new jobs to those jobs quickly and reasonable wage increases. 

Ranchers hope the two sides can find common ground soon.

Wowk is concerned a strike at the Cargill plant will lead to another cattle backlog, pointing to those experienced last year when the pandemic spurred temporary closures of meat processing plants.

The disruption to processing in North America pushed meat prices higher at grocery stores, but had the opposite effect down the supply chain, where a backlog of cattle emerged. 

Ranchers say cattle prices have not kept pace with rising costs, nor with the beef prices seen in grocery stores recently.