Labor dispute at Olimel | The union accepts the provisional agreement

Nathelle Morissette
Tap

After the Virtual General Assembly, most of the 1050 union members voted remotely early in the afternoon. Therefore the company should in principle keep its evening shift‌. If the two parties do not come to an agreement, it announced last week its intention to cancel it, thereby reducing 500 jobs.

An agreement in principle was reached on Sunday between the two parties following the blitz of talks that began on Friday. Under the circumstances, Olimel suspended his decision to end his evening shift until Wednesday.

On August 17, unionized workers at the Beas Plant voted 57% against the first agreement in principle between the union and the employer. Major issues in the dispute include wages, hours and collective bargaining duration.

After this first vote, the government appointed a special mediator. Unsatisfied with the progress of the talks, Olimel announced at midnight on Sunday, August 29, that he intended to cancel the evening shift if the two parties did not reach an agreement.

The Labor Minister, Jean Boulette, subsequently called a “last chance meeting” to suggest the two parties move to mediation, which, according to the minister, ended the conflict. While Olimel accepted the offer, the union turned it down and agreed to continue negotiations.

Following this rejection, the two parties began a blitz of negotiations on Friday, reaching an agreement in principle by the end of Sunday.

The Beauce Plant kills an average of 36,000 pigs a week, which accounts for about 20% to 25% of the total slaughter in Quebec. According to the latest figures released by Elevers de Porks du Quebec, there are currently 179,900 animals waiting.