Unconscionable Attacks on Striking Exceldor and Olymel Workers in Quebec
Defend the Dignity and Rights of
Slaughterhouse Workers!
At this time, 1,200 workers at the Olymel pork slaughterhouse in
Vallée-Jonction in the Beauce have been on strike since April
28, and 600 workers at the Exceldor chicken slaughterhouse in
Saint-Anselme, Quebec, have also been on strike since May 23. The
Vallée-Jonction workers report that since 2015 more than 1,800
workers have been hired at Olymel Vallée-Jonction and nearly
1,700 have left their jobs because the wages and working conditions are
so bad. The workers are fighting for wages that they consider
acceptable and that will keep workers at the plant. Many migrant
workers are also employed in these two plants, as is the case in many
meat packing plants in Canada.  The
workers report that working conditions at the plant are unacceptable,
particularly with regard to their health and safety. Exceldor workers
point out that group insurance is also an issue in their strike, as it
provides a level of financial protection when workers are injured or
become ill and must be absent from work. These workers have been
providing food for the population under the conditions of the pandemic,
often at great risk to their health and lives. Their efforts to
negotiate a new collective agreement and their strike reveal the urgent
need for working conditions that guarantee their safety and that of the
public. The experience of meat processing workers across Canada has
shown that making their voices heard is essential to defending their
rights and in defending lives and it is our duty to help them smash the
silence on their situation and the dictatorial rule that keeps their
conditions from being improved.
Far from showing a whit of concern for the workers, the Quebec and
federal governments do not recognize any of what the workers are saying
or experiencing. Quebec Premier François Legault and his Labour
Minister Jean Boulet can't get a sentence out without talking about
"labour shortages," which they say is one of the main problems with the
economy, and yet they slander these workers who are addressing this problem with their demands and their strike.
The Quebec and federal governments and the media have decreed that
the issue with this strike is "food waste," namely the euthanasia of
chickens that cannot be sent to the slaughterhouse. What kind of
governments pit euthanized chickens against human beings? If they do
not want euthanized chickens then take care of the human beings and
there will be no euthanized chickens. The workers are not the ones
harming the food supply. These workers are considered non-persons who
do not even deserve the most basic things including proper wages,
working conditions and peace of mind and are not allowed to speak out
by fighting for their demands. This shows that the fight of all
humanity today is the fight for the right to be of human beings.
Without this, without the dignity of all human beings, talk of
guaranteeing the food supply or meeting any need of the society in any
way, shape or form means nothing.
The Quebec government has
called for binding arbitration in the dispute at Exceldor, which
workers and the union have refused because it would mean ending their
strike and imposing a non-negotiated settlement. Premier
François Legault said, "Nobody should have the right to waste
such huge amounts of food so foolishly. It's indecent," and he called
on the union to accept arbitration. His Minister of Agriculture,
André Lamontagne, called for "a sense of civic duty" from
workers and the union, adding that they have a "moral responsibility"
to Quebecers. Federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau said,
"This cannot go on. Frankly, it's intolerable to let food animals be
slaughtered for no purpose," urging the union to accept arbitration.
 Attacking those who produce social wealth and deliver services, who feed and protect the
population,
and trying to turn the people against them is criminal. Using the
prerogative powers of government executives and state agencies to
attack and silence workers makes all the problems worse. We have seen
this starkly with the ministerial orders which have been imposed on
health and social services workers in Quebec since March 2020. These
have accelerated the wrecking of the health care system by imposing
untenable conditions on staff and attempting to silence them. The voice
of workers is essential for solving problems, defending their rights
and the rights of all and defending lives. That is what the Exceldor
and Olymel workers are fighting for.
Workers' Forum calls on all workers to step up joint efforts
to denounce the attacks that are being launched by governments, the
media and others against these striking workers and all workers,
especially the most vulnerable who are forced to fend for themselves.
The fight of theslaughterhouse workers is a fight for the rights and dignity of all.
This article was published in
June 23, 2021 - No. 60
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/WF2021/Articles/WO08601.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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