Olymel to lay off Que. hog plant staff, cancel hog orders

Quebec pork and poultry packer Olymel has cancelled hog orders from Ontario and plans to lay off non-union staff at one of its hog slaughter plants next week, citing “force majeure” as the plant’s unionized workers walk the picket line.

Workers represented by CSN (Confederation des syndicats nationaux) at Olymel’s Vallee-Jonction hog plant in Quebec’s Beauce region have been on strike since March 18 and last week voted to reject what the company described as its final contract offer.

Olymel said Tuesday it has “no choice but to lay off almost all managers and administrative staff working at this plant” starting March 30.

The company said it tried to relocate the non-union workers to other Olymel facilities but has had to serve layoff notices to about 55 of those employees.

Olymel said Tuesday it has also had to cancel deliveries of nearly 23,000 hogs per week from Ontario, as a move to “stem the glut of slaughtered hogs” after the strike began at Vallee-Jonction, southeast of Quebec City.

Olymel, the meat processing arm of Quebec’s Coop Federee, also operates hog slaughter plants at St-Esprit and Princeville, Que. and Red Deer, Alta., plus six further-processing plants in Quebec and one in Ontario handling products such as hams, bacon and deli meats.

Working with Quebec’s hog producer organization, les Eleveurs de porcs du Quebec, and “other slaughterhouses,” Olymel said Tuesday it has taken “a series of measures to limit adverse consequences” for Quebec hog farmers due to the strike.

Having to cancel hog deliveries from Ontario, however, has already “compromised” the Vallee-Jonction plant’s ability to resume production at full capacity when or if the strike ends, the company said.

The Vallee-Jonction plant has slaughter capacity for about 35,000 pigs per week, shipping fresh chilled pork, pork cuts and boned products mainly for export outside Canada.

Olymel reiterated Tuesday it can’t meet CSN’s “continued unreasonable demands” for wage hikes for the plant’s 950-odd unionized staff “without leaving the market to competitors.”

CSN had no official comment Tuesday but has previously said the Vallee-Jonction workers have seen “minimal” wage hikes since accepting what they described as a 40 per cent rollback in 2007. — AGCanada.com Network