Showing posts sorted by relevance for query CARGILL. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query CARGILL. Sort by date Show all posts

Sunday, December 05, 2021

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

Days before planned strike at High River, Alta., facility,

 union agrees to new contract

Jade Markus · CBC News · 
The Cargill beef-processing plant in High River, Alta., seen in 2020 after it reopened following a two-week shutdown because of a COVID-19 outbreak affecting hundreds of employees. On Saturday, workers accepted a new contract offer that included new rights for sick employees.  (Dan McGarvey/CBC)

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.

Workers prepare beef to be packaged at the Cargill facility near High River, Alta. The plant is the site of what became the largest COVID-19 outbreak in North America last year. (Name withheld)

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

The union also they brought in tents, floodlights and heaters for the possible strike, while nearby fields were 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 are pleased to have reached an agreement that is comprehensive, fair, and reflective of their commitment to excellence at Cargill and the critical role they play in feeding families across Canada," Jarrod Gillig, the company's president of business operations and supply chain for North America protein, wrote in a statement to CBC Saturday.  

"As an organization that leads with our value to put people first, we truly believe this ratification is in the best interests of our employees and we are eager to move forward to build a stronger future – together."

Reforms still needed: 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.

With files from Tony Seskus, Joel Dryden and Reuters


Strike action avoided at Cargill beef plant in High River, Alta.


Adam Lachacz
CTVNewsEdmonton.ca 

Digital Producer
Published Dec. 4, 2021 

Cargill workers approved a new contract with 71 per cent support, avoiding a strike or lockout.

After two days of voting, employees at the beef-processing plant in High River, Alta., embraced the new labour contract.

In a statement, the United Food and Commerical Workers (UFCW) Local 401, representing workers at the plant, said on Saturday that it was a "bittersweet victory."

The site, employing about 2,000 people, experienced a COVID-19 outbreak last year that affected more than 900 people and forced Cargill to close the plant temporarily. Three deaths have been linked to the outbreak, including two workers and one family member.

Workers will receive $4,200 in retroactive pay, a $1,000 signing bonus, a 21 per cent wage increase over the life of the contract, and improved health benefits. The company also agreed to provisions to facilitate a new culture of health, safety, dignity, and respect in the workplace.

"Our employees in High River are important to Cargill's work to nourish the world in a safe, responsible and sustainable way," said Jarrod Gillig, Cargill North America's business operations and supply chain president, in a statement to CTV News.

"We are pleased to have reached an agreement that is comprehensive, fair, and reflective of their commitment to excellence at Cargill and the critical role they play in feeding families across Canada."
STRIKE AVERTED

According to UFCW Local 401, the union and workers were ready for a potential strike, erecting tents in front of the plant, installing floodlights and propane heaters, levelling nearby fields to act as parking lots, and finalizing a picketing payroll system.

UFCW Local 401 president Thomas Hesse previously told CTV News that the deal was "fair" but would support workers on the picket line if they decided to reject the offer.

"Tomorrow, work will begin to enforce and apply the new provisions of the Cargill union contract," Hesse said in a statement Saturday. "Local 401 congratulates and thanks Cargill union members and our Cargill Bargaining Committee."

Hesse added that the past few months were trying for many employees at the plant.

MORE WORK TO DO

While the decision was not an easy one and a cause for celebration, UFCW Local 401 says there is further work.

The union says workers at the JBS Plant in Brooks, Alta., observed the Cargill proceedings as they head into bargaining for a new contract next year. Additionally, the UFCW Local 401 says it plans to continue pushing for meatpacking industry reforms and restructuring.

As prices for meat continue to soar at the grocery store, Hesse said more needs to be done to better support workers and ranchers.

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

With files from CTV News Calgary's Michael Franklin

Posted by at No comments:

Monday, May 04, 2020

Cargill meat-packing plant in High River, Alta., reopens amid ongoing talks with union

BY KAYLEN SMALL , ADAM MACVICAR AND MELISSA GILLIGAN 
GLOBAL NEWS Updated May 4, 2020 

https://globalnews.ca/video/rd/131020b8-8e34-11ea-ae19-0242ac110005/?jwsource=cl
WATCH: Monday was Day 1 for Cargill's plan to reopen the meat processing plant near High River. As Doug Vaessen reports, the union representing workers was out in full force, protesting the move and demanding the plant stay closed until it's convinced it's safe for workers.

The Cargill meat-packing plant in High River, Alta., has reopened as discussions continue between the company and the union representing its employees.

The plant closed temporarily on April 20 due to an outbreak of COVID-19, and reopened on Monday with health measures like temperature checks, mandatory face masks and other protective equipment, enhanced sanitizing and increased physical distancing.

READ MORE: Legal action launched to stop Monday opening of Cargill meat plant in High River

On Friday, United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 401 — the union representing Cargill workers — filed legal action to stop the planned reopening.

Both sides have been in mediation since Saturday, and those talks continued Sunday evening.

As of Sunday, Alberta Health said there are 935 cases of COVID-19 among workers at the Cargill plant in High River and 1,538 cases that have been linked to the facility.


Union representing Cargill workers speaks amid ongoing discussions
https://globalnews.ca/video/rd/ac1e2674-8e07-11ea-891f-0242ac110003/?jwsource=cl


READ MORE: NDP demands inquiry into Alberta meat plant COVID-19 protocols as Cargill plans reopening

In a statement to Global News, Cargill said that the safety of its employees is its “top priority” and it is “engaging in good faith” with the union.

Cargill said that Alberta Health Services and Occupational Health and Safety have reviewed its safety measures and support its reopening.

“We care about our employees and are working around the clock to keep them safe, deliver food for local families and provide market access for ranchers,” Cargill said.


READ MORE: Alberta meat plant should slow production to avoid more COVID-19 outbreaks: union head
Cargill had said on Sunday it was not planning on publicly sharing if it would open on Monday as mediation continued.

However, speaking to Global News Morning Calgary on Monday at 6 a.m., UFCW Local 401 president Thomas Hesse said shifts were set to begin that morning but that many employees wouldn’t be returning.

“In Alberta, each individual worker has the right to refuse work that they reasonably believe to be dangerous,” Hesse explained. “Workers aren’t showing up to work, and there’s no surprise in that. Unless Cargill cleans up their act, people aren’t going to buy beef and people aren’t going to work in their plant.

“We’re not on strike and we’re not asking people not to go to work. We’re demanding that the plant be safe.


“There are some ongoing talks, but right now Cargill is really bringing shame to Alberta — and Albertans are ashamed of what’s happening here,” he added, saying there are a “number of issues” that are being discussed.

“We’re not satisfied at all.”


READ MORE: Edmonton Filipino community rallies to bring groceries to quarantined meat-plant workers in High River
Hesse added that the union does “want the plant to operate” but said it should “not operate unless it’s safe.”

Hesse said a union representative was inside the plant on Monday morning to ask Occupational Health and Safety representatives in the plant to issue a stop work order.

“This plant should idle for a while longer until proper procedures and measures can be developed, implemented and put in force to keep people safe.”

On Monday, Cargill issued a statement clarifying that it resumed operations on Monday with two shifts.

“All employees who are healthy and eligible to work in our harvest department are asked to report to work. Fabrication shifts will resume on May 6,” Cargill said.

The company emphasized that employees coming to work should be healthy and not have had contact with anyone confirmed to have COVID-19 for 14 days.

“According to health officials, the majority of our employees remain healthy or have recovered,” Cargill stated. “We are grateful for our workers’ dedication and resilience as our plant and community walks through this heart-wrenching pandemic.”

Cargill added that AHS will be on site and they will conduct ongoing screening to safeguard employees and ensure no one exhibiting symptoms enters the facility.

“We care about our employees and this community. Our thoughts are with our friends and colleagues who have been impacted by the virus.”
 
Alberta expands COVID-19 symptoms eligible for testing


In her daily COVID-19 update Monday, Dr. Deena Hinshaw said there were 936 cases at the Cargill plant, 810 of whom have now recovered.

“I’ve heard stories of discrimination against newcomer families, with assumptions being made that any workers at Cargill and JBS and their families are a risk to others,” Alberta’s chief medical officer of health said. “People who are cases or close contacts will be supported by public health to self-isolate, but this is not required of all employees or families.

“When people are stigmatized or targeted, it blocks our collective ability to control the spread as people may fear getting tested or talking to public health,” Hinshaw stressed.

“We should be supporting people who are in this situation, not stigmatizing them."
CARGILL HIGH RIVER AB
POST MODERN SWEAT SHOP

She added that every single worker at outbreak sites are offered testing, whether they’re symptomatic or not.

Hinshaw said people who test positive for COVID-19 do not need a doctor’s note to return to work since public health officials are working closely with all cases and will provide guidance based on their individual isolation window.

When asked about the Cargill meat-processing plant by reporters on Monday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the federal government is working with provinces to ensure worker safety is upheld.

“Though that is a provincial area of responsibility, the federal government has a role to play as well, particularly around ensuring there are adequate safeguards and PPEs (personal protective equipment) in place,” Trudeau explained.

“We will, of course, be there to support the provinces in (their) work to ensure both the continued flow of supply chains for food but also the protection of workers who could be vulnerable right across the country.”


RELATED NEWS

© 2020 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
Posted by at No comments:

Tuesday, April 28, 2020

Ignoring US Alarms, Alberta Meat Packers Spawned Canada’s Biggest Outbreak
As the virus gripped US plants, the union pleaded for a shutdown. They were rebuffed.

Andrew Nikiforuk 24 Apr 2020 | TheTyee.ca
Tyee contributing editor Andrew Nikiforuk is an award-winning journalist whose books and articles focus on epidemics, the energy industry, nature and more.


Cargill’s High River, Alta. meat-packing plant, shut down due to a deadly outbreak weeks after its union pleaded for a temporary closure and safer working conditions. Photo: Brent Calver, Okotoks Western Wheel.


Canada’s largest outbreak of COVID-19 swept through two meat-packing plants in southern Alberta two weeks after the provincial government ignored union requests to temporarily close both of the plants.

And it mirrored a series of recent, well-documented hot-zone eruptions in meat plants in the United States.

More than 600 immigrant workers and community members have been infected while the disease has killed at least three people at Cargill’s High River plant and the JBS food plant in Brooks, Alta.

“The real issue here is a moral issue,” charged Thomas Hesse, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 401, which represents workers at the plants. “How do we as a society want to bring food to our tables?”

Racelh Notley, the former premier of Alberta, has called for a full public inquiry.

“It is unconscionable that we now have a situation where hundreds of people have contracted a deadly virus,” said Notley, who leads the NDP Official Opposition. “What kind of concerns put the lives of workers so low?” she asked on CBC Radio yesterday.

Alberta’s growing outbreaks follow in the wake of deadly events in the U.S. where meat-packing plants have become COVID-19 incubators.

The U.S. recorded its largest single cluster of cases at a pork-processing facility in Sioux Falls, South Dakota in early April. By the time the Chinese-owned facility closed for two weeks there were nearly 900 cases.

In the U.S., rates of coronavirus infection are 75 per cent higher in rural counties housing large beef, pork and poultry-processing plants, a USA Today investigation found. But leading up to meat-plant outbreaks there, as in Alberta, government authorities largely ignored warnings from workers, unions and immigrant groups.

Two days before the Cargill shutdown, Alberta Agriculture Minister Devin Dreeshen tweeted to workers “their worksite is safe.”

Meat-packing plants, which crowd workers into close quarters, now vie with nursing homes as places conducive to viral spread.

“Initially our concern was long-term care facilities,” said Gary Anthone, Nebraska’s chief medical officer, last week. “If there’s one thing that might keep me up at night, it’s the meat-processing plants and the manufacturing plants.”

The Alberta outbreaks should have caught no one by surprise, University of Ottawa public health expert Amir Attaran told The Tyee.

“It definitely should have been predicted by the health and safety inspectors that these would be hot spots,” said Attaran. He noted that “Alberta was doing inspections by video,” raising questions whether there was “an effort to prevent the inspectors doing their jobs.”

In mid-March the union representing Alberta workers at meat plants called upon Cargill and JBS Food to prepare to shut down in case of an outbreak.

Cargill’s food plant, which is located in High River, and JBS Food in Brooks, are both high-volume kill factories. They control 85 per cent of the nation’s beef slaughtering capacity. A smaller Cargill plant in Guelph, Ontario does the rest.

Cargill slaughters up to 4,500 beef cows a day and JBS 4,200 daily. Nearly all beef sold in Canada’s grocery stores comes from one of these three foreign-owned plants.


In response to the union’s questions about preparations for shutdowns, Cargill replied it was going to keep “our facilities open and operating because now, more than ever, families across Canada and around the world are relying on us to deliver safe, affordable protein.”

JBS said, “We are allowing employees age 70 or older, employees who are pregnant, and employees who [are] currently being treated for cancer, to go on a voluntary leave of absence and receive short-term disability benefits during that period.”

And then the first cases emerged at Cargill in early April.

Workers at the plant say they were unable to avoid infection risks at the Cargill plant located just north of High River, a community of 14,000 people.

At the Cargill plants, which disassemble beef cows into steaks and roasts, employees, many of whom are immigrant labourers from 50 different countries, work shoulder to shoulder. While Cargill implemented some new measures to limit virus transmission, physical distancing is a near impossibility in a modern meat-packing plant.

Among such operations in the U.S., there have been scores of COVID-19 outbreaks. One at a massive JBS plant in Greeley, Colo. infected hundreds of workers and killed at least four in early April. The plant, which slaughtered 5,400 cattle a day and employed 6,000 people, eventually closed for two weeks.

Meanwhile the contagion in Alberta continued to grow. After more cases emerged at Cargill in early April, Alberta Health Services inspected the plant on April 7.

Thomas Hesse asked for a written report but was told there was none, and that the Calgary regional arm of health services relied on “verbal reports” from its staff that the plant was safe.

But by Easter the virus had continued to spread and as many as 38 cases had appeared among workers.

On April 12, Easter Sunday, the UFCW’s Hesse formally requested that the province shut down the Cargill and JBS plants for two weeks.

“That week my mind was squirming like a toad because I had seen all these places close in the United States and the government had said one in six Albertans were going to carry the virus,” Hesse told The Tyee. “My grandmother told me an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, but with this pandemic there is no cure so we need more protection.”

His letter argued that temporary shutdown would save lives and would not affect the flow of beef significantly. The letter also referenced outbreaks at meat-packing plants in the U.S.: “The numbers that are emerging from comparable plants in North America have now reached a tipping point so as to obviously necessitate new preventative action in your plants. There are now reports of 30 North American UFCW member deaths. Employees are scared. Your employees are scared. It is time to act. It is time to protect life.”

At the same time, 267 members of the Filipino community in High River sent a letter to High River Mayor Craig Snodgrass requesting his help to convince Cargill to close its plant for two weeks. “We are mentally bothered and anxious,” they wrote, “even paranoid about the fact that even mildest symptoms spreading day by day thinking would somehow lead to the conclusion that they might be already positive carriers of the virus.”

The signers added that the company had ignored their pleas. “They don’t even care to provide masks for their workers, they told them to provide their own if they wanted to. It is very sad to know that the health of the employees are definitely not their concern. They are only after PROFIT!”

In response to these entreaties, Dreeshen said plants like Cargill have to remain open. He told CTV News that he was confident that changes the companies had made, including Plexiglas barriers, temperature checks and protective equipment would protect workers.

“These plants need to be operational in order for our food-supply system to operate,” pronounced Dreeshen on April 14.

Cargill accused Hesse of being “inflammatory” and scaring workers away from the plant. (Read the letter here.)
Inside Cargill’s High River meat-packing plant before the COVID-19 pandemic. Photo: Cargill.

After Easter, UFCW Local 401 filed a formal complaint with Alberta Occupational Health and Safety about conditions at Cargill’s High River plant and concerns about the virus. OHS then performed a virtual inspection involving visuals provided by a cell phone on April 16.

No workers were interviewed, and the inspector never stepped into the plant.

“We have a staff of 70 at the union, and they didn’t ask any of us to participate,” said Hesse. He called an inspection of the massive facility via cell phone “ridiculous.”

On April 15, Alberta Health Services set up a dedicated testing facility in High River and it soon recorded hundreds of positive cases. The AHS attributed some of the cases to carpooling at the plant and the fact that a high number of Cargill workers shared living space.

“But the reason they are sharing vehicles and living together is because they can’t cope with rents and living costs because they are working at the plant,” said Hesse. “It’s the petri dish that connects everyone together.”

Authorities, Cargill and government ministers again tried to reassure employees that their workplace was safe during a telephone town meeting on April 18.

That was followed the next day by a union telephone conference where 2,000 members were asked if they were afraid of going into work because of the outbreak: 85 per cent said yes. The union informed its members of their basic right to refuse dangerous work.

Cargill didn’t idle the plant until April 20, when Chief Medical Health Officer Dr. Deena Hinshaw announced the first death from the outbreak.

“They are only closing because people weren’t coming into work,” explained union spokesperson Michael Hughes. “They refuse to call it a shutdown. They call it idling.”

The head of the U.S. conglomerate that owns Cargill’s Alberta plant announced the closure in a statement. “Considering the community-wide impacts of the virus, we encourage all employees to get tested for the COVID-19 virus as now advised by Alberta Health Services as soon as possible,” said Jon Nash, president of Cargill Protein.

The JBS facility, owned by a Brazilian conglomerate, is still operating one shift of 1,000 workers despite several hospitalizations and one death. “Increased absenteeism” forced the change, said the company, despite increased wages of $4 an hour.

When Cargill finally closed, Alberta Premier Jason Kenney downplayed the event at a daily press conference, saying that Alberta had 200 meat processing facilities and that only one per cent were affected. He did not mention that the two plants combined, Cargill and JBS plants, slaughtered most of the beef in the country.

Hesse remains critical of the province’s response as rates of infection and deaths rise. Neither the government nor Cargill “adequately protected workers, and now our members are getting sick and dying. If our members’ work is essential, they shouldn’t be treated like they are expendable.”

Hesse says the province needs to make changes to protect workers at meat plants as well as grocery stores. “We are calling for an independent, worker-centred review of health and safety in food processing facilities and grocery stores, to create a clear, effective and well-enforced regulatory regime for Alberta’s food sector.”



COVID-19 Sparks Push to Improve BC’s Food Security READ MORE

Yesterday, April 24, the government of Alberta announced that Occupational Health and Safety would investigate conditions at both plants by sending inspectors inside their walls.

But Hesse says that it may be too late to repair trust. “Our members have lost faith in the ability of OHS to protect workers,” he said.

The UFCW Local 401 is the largest private sector union in Western Canada and represents 32,000 Alberta workers mainly in the food processing and retail sector.

To some ranchers and farmers, Alberta’s outbreaks illustrate the fragility of an industrial food system focused on bigness, efficiency and foreign ownership.

“Excessive concentration of ownership and centralization of beef processing, supported and encouraged by our federal and provincial governments, has now put the health of workers, the beef supply and the livelihoods of thousands of farmers in jeopardy,” said Iain Aitken, a member of the National Farmers Union and Manitoba beef producer.

---30---
Posted by at No comments:

Sunday, July 04, 2021

CARGILL IN TURKEY
They’ve Fought for Over 1,000 Days To Get Their Jobs Back. They’re Not Backing Down

The incredible story of 14 blue-collar workers taking on one of America's biggest companies.



Never in his wildest dreams – or nightmares – did Faik Kutlu see himself taking on one of the world's largest and most powerful corporations in an epic three-year battle. Yet today is the 1,172nd day of a seemingly never-ending struggle that has pitted him and a dozen other blue-collar Turkish workers against Cargill, the biggest privately-held corporation in the US by revenue.

Kutlu and his fellow workers were fired for attempting to form a union, and their protest has taken them from the streets of Istanbul to the courts, and back again, in a relentless David vs Goliath struggle to get their old jobs back.

It’s one of the longest-running labour struggles in Turkey’s recent history, but for the workers involved this battle is far larger than themselves. It’s about holding to account a company quick to highlight its respect for international labour rights agreements and yet which, they say, continues to exploit loopholes in violation of those very agreements. And, it’s about uniting the Turkish working class in opposition against ever-deteriorating conditions in a country with the highest income inequality in Europe.

“This is not only a fight to get our jobs back, but a fight for union rights, a fight for the rights of the working class in Turkey,” Kutlu said. “The working conditions are getting worse day by day. We have to show other workers that if we fight we can win.”

It all began in March 2018 when workers at the Bursa-Orhangazi starch factory and a series of other plants in Turkey and their union filed for collective bargaining status. A month later, 14 of those workers, all union members, were fired from the plant.

The plants are owned by Cargill, an American multinational corporation producing the basic ingredients used by much of the commercial food sector, such as corn starch, sugar, and palm oil. Cargill is the second largest private company in the United States by revenue and its clients include Coca Cola, Nestlé, and McDonald’s. In Turkey, Cargill plants produce starch, sweeteners, and oleochemicals, among other things, for the Turkish and international market.

In the three years since their dismissals, the workers have marched hundreds and hundreds of miles across the country, demonstrating from Ankara to Bursa, picketing in front of the local headquarters of Cargill, as well as some of its biggest customers, including Coca Cola, Nestle, and PepsiCo. In Istanbul, they slept on the street in front of Cargill’s headquarters for over two months and ate their meals on the cold pavement. On the 11th of January – their thousandth day of protest – the workers gathered in Istanbul to make a speech at the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, but were detained by police.

For Kutlu, the struggle has completely changed his view on working class consciousness and solidarity.

“At times it can feel overwhelming, and I have had many sleepless nights,” Kutlu told VICE World News over Zoom through a translator. “But I have also experienced in the best way possible the support I have had in Turkey from my fellow workers, the solidarity of the working class. It fills my heart.”

Still, being unemployed has been difficult. He recently had a baby and has struggled psychologically as well as financially, although his family, friends, and fellow workers have continued to support him.

It has also been difficult for Fatih Gürhan, another one of the dismissed workers, who recently turned 44. Factories rarely hire men his age – one of the reasons he is fighting for his old job – and he has a family to help support.

“When I was dismissed, I couldn’t talk about it for a week,” Gürhan said. “I couldn’t say it to my children, my friends, my parents. Only my wife. Every day, I would leave the house at eight, just like I used to, and come back in the evening with some sweets for my kids. Life is not cheap in Turkey, especially when you have three kids in school.”

“Eventually I told them,” he said. “It was not an easy decision to start this struggle.”



DISMISSED CARGILL WORKERS AT A PICKET ON THEIR 1,105TH DAY OF PROTEST. PHOTO: CARGILL İŞÇI KOMITESI TWITTER ACCOUNT

The workers, along with others in the factory, are members of Tekgıda-İş, a Turkish labour union.

Organisation efforts began in 2012, by workers frustrated with declining wages and deteriorating conditions. But it was only in March 2018, after years of union membership drives, that Tekgıda-İş felt confident that it had enough support that it filed for collective bargaining status.

After the union filed for bargaining status, Cargill management immediately began resisting the effort, workers say, including by making threats that conditions at the factory would worsen if workers unionised.

Shortly after they filed for recognition, the union activists were met with bad news. On the 9th of March 2018, the Turkish Ministry of Labour informed Tekgıda-İş that it had not met the 40 percent threshold required to achieve collective bargaining status under Turkish labour law.

But union officials and workers claim that Cargill added workers from its head offices in Istanbul to the collective bargaining unit to dilute the number of union members. Tekgıda-İş’ application for collective bargaining status, seen by VICE World News, filed on four sites. The rejection letter from the Turkish Ministry of Labour lists two extra sites, including Cargill’s head office.

"Cargill essentially moved workers from its administrative office into the collective bargaining unit, therefore reducing the proportion of union members and leaving the union just shy of the 40 percent it needed," Suat Karlıkaya, a Tekgıda-İş representative, said.

Just over a month after their unionisation effort fell flat, on the 18th of April 2018, Cargill fired Gürhan, Kutlu, and 12 other blue-collar production workers. All were active leaders in the organising effort, workers told VICE World News.

Gürhan worked in Cargill’s Bursa-Orhangazi factory for 17 years before he was fired. He was open about his union membership and active in multiple union drives. He believes that Cargill managers punished him and other pro-union employees.

Despite being one of the most senior employees at the factory, Gürhan says he was passed over for promotions, which were offered to junior colleagues instead.

Before he was fired, Gürhan was assigned to work as a chemical operator unloading and stocking chemicals entering the plant. Usually, he says, there are three chemical operators rotating every three months to avoid prolonged exposure to noxious gases and chemicals. But he was forced to work there alone for four years.

“No matter how many safety measures you take, you are exposed to toxic gases,” Gürhan told VICE World News through an interpreter. “You constantly interact with dry and liquid chemicals. You always work alone, away from everyone.”

VICE World News asked Cargill about Gürhan’s claims, but did not receive a response.

“Workers were scared of joining the union,” he said. “There was an atmosphere of fear. I often encountered workers who would like to join a union but didn’t because they were afraid that something would happen to them. That they would be fired or passed up on a promotion or better position.”

Shortly after they were fired, Gürhan and 11 other workers decided to contest their dismissals in court with the help of Tekgıda-İş – two other workers decided not to contest their dismissals. In February 2020, the Orhangazi Civil Labour court decided that eight workers had been unfairly dismissed by Cargill because of their union activities, while four had been unfairly dismissed without economic justification.

The court also noted that there were “numerous resignatiations” of union membership on the exact same dates that the 14 workers were fired and that workers were scared of possible repercussions for their union membership.

All 12 workers contesting their dismissal were ordered by the court to be reinstated. But 40 months later and they still haven’t been rehired – in fact, Cargill has advertised open positions in the ensuing months.

Instead, Cargill made use of a loophole in Turkish law that allows companies to pay workers compensation, rather than let workers fired for union activities return to their positions. Kutlu and Gürhan respectively received eight months wages in compensation, as well as severance and pay for their notice period, amounting to roughly ₺44,000 Turkish Lira (£3,650) and ₺70,000 Turkish Lira (£5,800) respectively.

“Firing workers for unionising is a violation of their fundamental human rights and they need to be allowed to return to their positions,” said Burcu Ayan, an international officer at the International Union Federation, one of the labour organisations campaigning for the reinstatement of the fired workers. “Cargill does not want to allow these workers to return to their positions because they know that if they do, workers will no longer be scared of organising.”

In January, the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association launched an investigation into whether human rights violations had occurred when the workers were fired.

Cargill did not respond to an emailed set of questions from VICE World News. VICE World News asked, among other things, for comment on the verdicts from the Turkish courts, why the workers were not rehired even after open positions were advertised, and if the company had any comment regarding the workers’ three-year protests. Allegations that Gürhan was forced to work with toxic chemicals and that the company had added employees from its head office into the collective bargaining unit were also put to Cargill.


The company did respond, however, to a series of questions from the United Nations as part of its investigation. In its response, Cargill defended its actions, rehashing many of the same arguments previously rejected by the Turkish courts.

One of the company’s principal arguments is that its hand was forced following a reduction of the national sugar quota in Turkey, which it claims significantly reduced demand. However, this quota only came into effect in July, months after the workers were fired, via a presidential decree.

In the case of the workers dismissed in 2018, the court found that the “employer’s sales and assets increased after the termination date [of the workers]” and that “the company continued to make profit, there was no decrease in the order and production.”

Cargill also argues that the 14 workers were dismissed based on their low performance. None of the workers said they had ever received low performance marks when asked by VICE World News. In a dismissal notice sent to one of the workers seen by VICE World News, there is no mention of low performance, and there is no mention of low performance in the court’s summary of arguments made by Cargill’s lawyers. VICE World News also asked Cargill if it could provide any evidence that workers had received or been notified that they were underperforming and received no response.

The dismissals of the 14 workers in the spring of 2018 did not happen in isolation. Between 2012 and 2015, Cargill fired seven workers active in unionisation efforts. They later took Cargill all the way to the Turkish Court of Cassation (roughly equivalent to the Supreme Court), which decided in 2015 and 2018 that all seven had been fired because of their union activities.

“After the employer learned about the trade union activities, the department managers put pressure on workers and tried to convince them to resign from the trade union,” the Court of Cassation ruling from 2015 reads. “Some workers, including the complainant, who were the leading unionists, were then fired from the job on the grounds of low performance with the aim to send a message of intimidation to all workers.”

In spite of all that’s happened over the last 1,172 days, the workers say they do not harbor ill feelings towards Cargilll. They just want their old jobs back and their rights as workers to be respected.

“We are all very different people with different views and political beliefs who have come together for this purpose,” Kutlu said. “Cargill claims that they value their workers. If that is true, why can they not correct this mistake? Just remedy what you have done wrong. We are willing to forgive. Respect workers’ right to unionise.”

Posted by at No comments:

Friday, May 08, 2020

More than 900 COVID-19 cases at Cargill plant, but governments allow it to reopen



Karl Nerenberg May 7, 2020 RABBLE.CA

Cargill Incorporated is the largest privately held company in the United States, and that means it is essentially a family business.

You cannot buy Cargill shares on the Toronto, New York or any other stock exchange. The descendants of William Cargill, who founded the company in 1865 as a grain storage operation, own 90 per cent of the company.

But if it is a family business, Cargill is no mom-and-pop operation.

The company has grown over the past century and a half into a multi-tentacled corporate behemoth, involved in everything from grain to livestock to potash to steel to transport to financial services. In 2018, Cargill and its various subsidiaries reported revenues of over $110 billion.

Cargill has operations on five continents, in more than 70 countries, including Canada, and the company's meat-packing plant in High River, Alberta is a tiny piece of that worldwide empire.

In this country, however, the High River plant has an extremely high profile. It is one of the epicentres of COVID-19 in Canada -- in all of North America, in fact -- with over 900 reported cases out of 2,000 employees. That's almost half the workforce.

Two people have died in connection with the Cargill outbreak -- one, a plant worker originally from Vietnam; the other, an infected plant worker's father, who had been visiting from the Philippines.

Cargill initially resisted pleas from workers and their union to close the plant, but finally relented, in late April. After only two weeks, it hastily reopened, on Monday, May 4, giving the largely immigrant workforce the Hobson's choice of either going back to a potentially fatal workplace or losing their jobs.

Neither the workers, nor their union think the plant has become safe.

The union, the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), has gone to court to force a shutdown, until Cargill can absolutely guarantee safe and healthy conditions for all employees.

The UFCW does not think the notoriously low-paid plant workers should have to risk their lives to fatten the balance sheet of a U.S.-based transnational corporation that ranks number 15 on the Fortune 500.
Kenney and Trump on the same wavelength

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney has a different view from that of the union and the workers it represents.

The premier, and former Harper Conservative government cabinet minister, appropriates a concept meant to describe access to necessary basic foodstuffs we all need for sustenance – food security – and applies it to the much different situation of the High River plant. The Cargill workers have to do their part, the Alberta premier argues, to ensure food security for Canadians.

The truth is that Canada's food security does not depend on meat from Cargill or any other commercial operation.

If our local butcher runs out of hamburger for the barbecue, we all have other nutritious options. There are, for instance, the protein-packed pulses -- chickpeas, lentils and the like -- that farmers in Saskatchewan grow in great quantity.

In the U.S., as in Canada, COVID-19 has been particularly hard on the meat-packing industry, forcing more than 20 plant closures, and causing meat shortages on grocery shelves. Some fast food chains have even had to take hamburgers off the menu.

Corporate executives in the meat industry told U.S. President Trump that they were reluctant to reopen their U.S.-based plants for fear of lawsuits. The U.S. is a far more litigious country than Canada.

The president's response was to give the corporations cover, by invoking the U.S. Defense Protection Act (DPA). In effect, the president is forcing the corporations to reopen their plants.

The purpose of the DPA is to allow a president to harness the resources of private industry to serve public needs in time of war or national emergency. Many have urged Trump to invoke the act to assure production of personal protective equipment for front-line workers during the pandemic, but he has refused.

Now, Trump is using the extraordinary powers of the DPA to force workers back to dangerous plants, while shielding their bosses from responsibility.

As for the High River Cargill plant workers, they fall under provincial labour jurisdiction. And the Alberta premier has already indicated he will not lift a finger to protect them. But there might be a way that federal authorities could step in.
Jagmeet Singh urges Trudeau government to act

In Canada, it is the federal government that has authority over food safety, and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh believes the Trudeau team should assertively use that power to protect the Cargill workers.

Singh put the question to Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland during the House of Commons' weekly face-to-face session on Wednesday, May 6.

"Food safety and worker safety cannot be divorced," Singh told the House. "Will the government ensure that the Cargill workers are in safe work conditions?"

Freeland, in a manner all-too-typical of Liberal politicians, dissimulated, offering sympathy but no action.

"The member opposite is quite right that where the federal government has particular authority in food processing is to guarantee the safety of the foods processed there for Canadians to eat," she said, and then expressed some vague sentiments of concern. "When it comes to Cargill and food processing, I agree with the member opposite that it's something we all need to be particularly concerned about, and we have been."

The NDP leader was not satisfied.

"Will the government commit to using the authority that it has under food safety to ensure that workers are also safe, because there's no way that food can truly be safe if workers are in dangerous conditions and if workers are contracting COVID-19?" Singh asked, adding: "If workers are dying, the food can't be safe."

Freeland would not budge. The Trudeau government wants to get credit for caring, without pushing the envelope in dealing with the most prickly and confrontational provincial government in the country, Alberta's.

"I think we all understand there is a very clear difference between the duty to inspect food which is produced and to ensure that that food is safe for Canadians, and even more sacred duty to ensure that workers are working in safe conditions," Freeland answered. "We take both of those extremely seriously and we are aware what falls specifically in our jurisdictions. Having said that, we care very much about all Canadian workers."

Freeland's assertion that responsibility for the safety of a product that consumers eat does not include making sure a processing plant is not an active breeder of a deadly virus reflects a narrow and limited understanding of the federal role.

There is no evidence of food borne transmission of COVID-19, or of food packaging carrying the virus, according to authorities in both the U.S. and Canada.

But experts have not always got it right about COVID-19 since the outbreak at the beginning of this year. At this stage, all we know for sure is that there remain many unanswered questions about it.
'The worst company in the world'

What is not in doubt is the kind of company we're dealing with.

Not too long ago the U.S. environmental organization Mighty Earth undertook a study of the social and environmental impact of Cargill's operations and issued a report they called "The Worst Company in the World."

The report opens by stating "when it comes to addressing the most important problems facing our world, including the destruction of the natural environment, the pollution of our air and water, the warming of the globe, the displacement of Indigenous peoples, child labor, and global poverty, Cargill is not only consistently in last place, but is driving these problems at a scale that dwarfs their closest competitors."

The report details how Cargill has become more powerful than governments and has betrayed repeated promises to adhere to high environmental standards.

"Nowhere is Cargill's pattern of deception and destruction more apparent than in its participation in the destruction of the lungs of the planet, the world's forests. Despite repeated and highly publicized promises to the contrary, Cargill has continued to bulldoze ancient ecosystems, sometimes within the bounds of lax laws -- and, too often, outside those bounds as well."

With the advent to power of virulently anti-environmental Trump in the U.S. and Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil, there is now virtually no limit, Mighty Earth says, to Cargill's capacity to ravage rainforests, savannahs and other vital habitats.

Mighty Earth cites many examples.

One of those is that of "the Gran Chaco, a 110-million-hectare ecosystem spanning Argentina, Bolivia, and Paraguay."

This ecosystem "is one of the largest remaining continuous tracts of native vegetation in South America, second in size only to the Amazon rainforest. These forests are home to vibrant communities of Indigenous Peoples … who have depended on and coexisted with the Chaco forest for millennia."

Cargill, the report tells us, is now actively endangering both the people and other inhabitants of the Gran Chaco to produce a cash crop -- soy -- that feeds the animals which become Big Macs and Whoppers.

"Once the impenetrable stronghold of creatures like the screaming hairy armadillo, the jaguar, and the giant anteater, Cargill has infiltrated the Gran Chaco, bulldozing and burning to make way for vast fields of genetically modified soy."

Mighty Earth also documents Cargill's use of violence to subdue Indigenous peoples, its exploitative labour practices, including child labour, and its predatory practices that have driven competitors out of certain businesses.

This is the company that Jason Kenney says must be allowed to operate, uninhibited by health concerns, to assure our food security.

If you believe that, you might also believe that injecting bleach into your veins can cure COVID-19, or that, as many opinion leaders in the U.S. say, it is necessary to accept that thousands must die in the interests of what they call the economy.

The owners of Cargill are not personally offering to sacrifice their lives. They are offering their employees' lives instead.

Karl Nerenberg has been a journalist and filmmaker for more than 25 years. He is rabble's politics reporter.

FURTHER READING
Maybe it's time for Ottawa to use its power to close those meat-packing plants until their owners fix their COVID-19 mess
Ottawa has the power if it chooses to use it. It has regulatory jurisdiction over any meat-packing plant that sells meat outside its province of origin.
Posted by at No comments:

Monday, May 04, 2020

BACKGROUNDER
Filipino workers at Cargill meatpacking plant feel unfairly blamed for Canada's biggest COVID-19 outbreak
Joel Dryden · CBC News · Posted:  April 27
As of Friday, 558 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in workers from the Cargill meat plant
Elma Ton, second from right, said she has been disappointed to see comments making fun of the Filipino community online in the wake of the Cargill outbreak. Her husband Rodel Ton, far right, works at Cargill. (Submitted by Elma Ton)

Arwyn Sallegue, an employee of Cargill's meat-packing plant in High River, Alta. — where 558 workers have confirmed cases of COVID-19 — said he's noticed an upsetting trend online.

Cases connected to the Cargill meat plant outbreak have increased dramatically over the past two weeks. As of Friday, there were 558 cases in workers from the plant, with 798 total cases linked to the coronavirus outbreak. It's the largest outbreak linked to a single site in Canada.

"I see a bunch of [comments] blaming us [for the outbreak], because they said it's in the households," he said.

"We cannot blame anybody. Everyone's a victim. Nobody wants to become sick and ill."

Sallegue, who is a permanent resident of Canada, tested positive for COVID-19 on April 23 and has been in self-isolation. The same day, his father, Armando Sallegue, visiting Canada from the Philippines, also developed symptoms. He, too, was confirmed to have the virus.

"He's only a visitor here, and he doesn't have any health-care coverage," Sallegue said. "He was hardly breathing. He went to the ICU."

Arwyn Salleague's father, Armando Sallegue, who is visiting Canada from the Philippines, is in an intensive care unit after testing positive for COVID-19. (Arwyn Sallegue)

Elma Ton, whose husband works at Cargill, said she also has been disappointed to see comments online, specifically those that disparage multiple Filipino families living under one roof.

"I feel bad. Because instead of helping [the Filipino community], supporting them, understanding them, they're still making fun of us," Ton said.

"Filipinos are known to have strong family ties. So as much as possible, we love to live together."

Lisa Degenstein, who works for the Calgary Catholic Immigration Society in High River, said she had heard of similar comments targeting the Filipino community over the past number of days.

"There's something a little disturbing happening, a bit of community backlash happening. People say, 'Hey, don't you work at Cargill?'" she said. "And isn't it a lot easier to look at someone who isn't white and start making assumptions."
Feeling blamed

One employee at the Cargill plant, a woman of Vietnamese background in her sixties, has died.

Employees at the facility have accused the company of ignoring physical-distancing protocols — citing "elbow-to-elbow" working conditions — and of trying to lure them back to work from self-isolation. 

Health and safety inspection of Alberta meat plant linked to 515 COVID-19 cases was done by video call

A separate outbreak at the JBS meat processing plant in Brooks now has seen 156 cases in workers from the plant, with two deaths — a worker and an individual linked to the outbreak. That plant remains open, operating at one shift per day.

A big chunk of the workforce at the Cargill facility are Filipino, some of whom are temporary foreign workers (TFWs) and others who are permanent residents. Employees interviewed estimated 60 to 80 per cent of the workforce is Filipino.

Cesar Cala with the Philippines Emergency Response Taskforce — a network of volunteers that seeks to support crises in the Filipino community — said many in the community are afraid to speak out about their experiences, especially TFWs whose stay in Canada is linked to their employment at these facilities.

Cesar Cala, a volunteer with the Philippines Emergency Response Taskforce, said many Filipinos feel like they're being singled out and blamed for the crisis at Cargill. (Cesar Cala)

But this has posed a challenge, as Cala said many in the community feel as though their concerns were not taken seriously.

"Many Filipino workers and residents sent a letter to the company asking that the plant be closed so that safety measures could be put in place, but no actions were taken," Cala said.
    












      NOT HAPPENING AT CARGILL

That letter was signed by more than 250 Filipino residents and sent April 12 — a day before 38 cases were confirmed by the union — calling for the plant to be closed for two weeks.

The plant remained open for the rest of the week, and 358 cases were confirmed five days later.

'Several pieces of this puzzle'

On April 18, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Devin Dreeshen, along with Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta's chief medical officer of health, and other health officials, participated in a telephone town hall with Cargill workers. Dreeshen said he was confident the plant was safe.

Two days later, Cargill announced it would shut down the facility temporarily after it was announced that a worker had died.

"The situation got worse, and what [the Filipino community is] hearing from officials is that they are the ones spreading the virus," Cala said.

Hinshaw has said that many cases at the Cargill facility were likely exposed to COVID-19 weeks ago, and many factors have been identified that contributed to the spread.

Employees continued to carpool to work after safety measures were introduced at the plant, Hinshaw said, and some employees of continuing care centres with outbreaks also lived in large households with Cargill workers.

Many family members living in those households also don't have enough space to self isolate, she said.

"There seems to be several pieces of this puzzle, and the challenge has been to put all of those pieces together," Hinshaw said Monday. "I would say that plant shutdown is not a single, only factor in this."

Dr. Deena Hinshaw said Friday that there is no reason to assume that everyone connected with Cargill is infected with COVID-19. (Art Raham/CBC)

Later in the week, Hinshaw said those affected by the outbreak deserved support, and should not be restricted from accessing businesses like grocery stores or banks.

"There is no reason to assume that everyone connected with that facility is infected," she said. "The people who are affected by this outbreak are experiencing many difficulties, and they need support and compassion as we work to stop further spread."
Challenges and frustrations

Cala said the realities of transportation and housing are out of the control of many employees at these facilities. Having sent a letter voicing their concerns before numbers of confirmed cases skyrocketed, Cala said they now feel they have been unfairly blamed.

"That's why I think it's important that public leaders need to speak out and say, no, this is our common, collective issue, it's not an issue of the Filipino community," Cala said. "No one is covering their backs. It's more like, 'Hey, you're partly to blame for this.' That's not very good to hear."

Cargill is one of the two primary beef suppliers for McDonald's Canada, and normally processes about 4,500 cattle per day at this time of year. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press)
Daniel Sullivan, a spokesperson with Cargill, said the company was working with health officials and community organizations to provide further support for TFWs and other employees.

"Our workers have been deemed essential – like healthcare workers and first responders – and we are committed to supporting them," he said in an email to CBC News. "It is important to know that all TFWs are union members with the same wages and benefits as other workers in our facilities."

Sallegue, still in self-isolation as he awaits news on his father in ICU, said he hopes that foreign workers can receive the support they need.

"Only thing I'm feeling right now is, we need support. We are here to work, to contribute and help," he said. "I hope you will not blame our community."

‘Death is so real’: Immigrant group says meat workers afraid after COVID-19 plant closure

BY BILL GRAVELAND THE CANADIAN PRESS April 25, 2020

https://globalnews.ca/video/rd/2da4dd7e-84f7-11ea-9793-0242ac110003/?jwsource=cl
WATCH ABOVE (April 22, 2020): The workers at a Cargill meat plant in Alberta -- and their families -- are no doubt on edge, and have been for weeks. The novel coronavirus has significantly impacted the Filipino community in the area because many are employed at the plant and have tested positive. Jill Croteau reports.

An organization that works with immigrants says the temporary closure of a large slaughterhouse in southern Alberta has left many among its largely Filipino workforce fearful for the future.

Cargill shut down its plant just north of High River, Alta., earlier this week after an outbreak of COVID-19 and the death of one employee. The decision put 2,000 employees out of work.

Marichu Antonio from Action Dignity said 70 per cent of the workers at Cargill are Filipino. There are also Mexicans, Chinese and Vietnamese working at the plant.

Her organization, previously known as the Ethno-Cultural Council of Calgary, assists new Canadians obtain services. She said it has received hundreds of calls from Cargill workers.

Antonio, who is originally from the Philippines, said people are worried about what happens after the plant reopens.

 “The possibility of death is so real right now. They know the long-term implications to their families if something happens to them as the main breadwinners, so they’re very worried. They’re afraid,” she said.
“They don’t know what their future is and they don’t know what is best for them.”TWEET THIS

Antonio said the death of the Cargill worker in her 60s has hit many people hard.

“The woman who passed away was of Vietnamese descent. She took her sick day that Friday and then she was hospitalized Saturday and passed away Sunday.”

Antonio’s organization helped the woman’s husband arrange a funeral.

Cesar Cala, a co-convener of the Filipino Emergency Response Task Force, said a significant number of plant employees are temporary foreign workers here in Canada alone. There are also many with permanent resident status who have their families with them.

He said those who are sending money home often look to save expenses by moving in with other workers.

“Either they rent places or they make living arrangements with other workers from other businesses. It’s a good way to save money.”

The cost savings go beyond living together.

“They car-pool. Most of them live in Calgary, so it saves a lot of money for them to go in a car-pool … five of them going there together and coming back.”

Cala said workers are worried about their health and feeling pressure to head back to work, even if they are still showing symptoms. He said having a steady income is a priority for them.

“For a lot of the (temporary foreign workers), their employment and their status to stay in Canada is tied up to their employment. It’s not just losing their jobs,” he said.

“It might be about losing their status as well. They’ve incurred so much cost coming to Canada and they’re also quite anxious, because there’s no clarity on what’s going to happen and what’s in store.”

Antonio said her group has been urging workers to tell their stories publicly.

“We’ve been asking them … to share their stories and their reality, but they’re afraid that they may not be rehired. There are many stories that they can tell.”


Posted by at No comments:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)