Cargill workers have accepted a new collective
agreement with 71 per cent voting in favour of the new contract, United
Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW) Local 401 announced on
December 4. In its statement, Local 401 called the moment a
"bittersweet victory for Cargill workers."
"Working
with their union, UFCW Local 401, worker representatives from Cargill
demanded fairness, respect, and compensation from their employer. Like
all workers, they had one simple thing to say: We Matter," the
statement from Local 401 says.
The union has announced some provisions of the agreement, including
a $1,000 COVID-19 bonus, a $1,000 signing bonus, retroactive pay to
December 2020, a $5 an hour wage increase (21 per cent over the life of
the contract) for many employees, improved health benefits for workers
and their families, and "significant contract provisions to
facilitate a new culture of health, safety, dignity, and respect in the
workplace." The six-year contract is retroactive to December 31, 2020.
"The injustices at Cargill, however, are not made right by the
contract. Local 401 and its activists look to the future to enforce the
new rights of Cargill workers in this unprecedented collective
agreement," the statement from Local 401 says.
For the workers it is a bittersweet moment because nothing will
erase the pain, suffering and death they experienced as close to half
of the plant became infected with COVID-19 and two workers and a family
member died in the first wave alone. Nothing will wash away the anger
that Cargill has yet to acknowledge or be held to account for
its negligence and outright indifference to the well-being and very
lives of the workers.
Local 401 says the contract was "the best of its kind and
represented unprecedented gains in this time of economic and political
uncertainty and during the biggest health crisis the world has ever
seen. A victory has been won and this is a day to celebrate."
The collective efforts and strength of the workers were decisive,
Local 401 emphasizes. The workers know there is no cure from the gods
of plague -- this giant oligopoly and the government in power. Local
401 was fully prepared for a strike, with tents, floodlights, propane
heaters, facilities for parking and much more prepared, and
emphasizes that even though a strike was averted, the fight is far from
over.
Tents set up by UFCW 401 as part of preparation for possible strike at Cargill.
"In the coming months, we also look forward to the citizens of
Alberta joining with us in calling for reforms and restructuring in the
meatpacking industry. Cargill has boasted of their highest profits ever
while beef prices have skyrocketed. Meanwhile, Cargill's labour costs
have been unchanged up until now. So, many are upset.
"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," Local 401 concluded.
This article was published in
December 8, 2021 - No. 117
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/WF2021/Articles/WO081171.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
