The United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) union has set its sights on organizing workers at an Alberta packing plant that was the scene of mass firings earlier this year.
UFCW Canada Local 401 has filed a certification application with the Alberta Labour Relations Board for the right to represent employees at Lakeside Packers in Brooks. The plant is owned by the American meat-packing giant Tyson Foods.
Union president Doug O’Halloran said the board will review the application before scheduling a certification vote at the Lakeside plant, which would likely take place before the end of this month.
“It’s up to the board to set a vote date, up to the workers to confirm their support for a unionized workplace, and up to Lakeside to respect the workers’ decision,” O’Halloran said in a news release.
Workers at Lakeside have alleged that 60 of their colleagues were dismissed in April for sticking up for workers’ rights. They said the workers, many of them Sudanese immigrants with a limited grasp of English, were fired after raising concerns such as access to doctors, washroom breaks and the right for women workers to come back after maternity leave.
At one point, 100 of them marched to the Brooks town office to complain to Mayor Don Weisback.
Tyson wouldn’t confirm how many were fired, but spokesman Gary Mickelson has said they were let go for refusing to work.
Employees currently earn $10 to $17 an hour.
Lakeside is the biggest employer in Brooks, with an annual payroll of $90 million. The company has promised $1 million to build a new recreation centre for the town, located 130 kilometres southeast of Calgary.
The plant was organized in 1984, but the union was crushed in a strike. Three other attempts to organize the plant over the last decade have failed.
