By Jeremy Appel Rankandfile.ca’s Cargill correspondent The new agreement won by workers at Cargill’s High River, Alberta meatpacking plant is a significant improvement over its previous iteration and could provide a template for labour struggles in the industry, according to labour relations experts. Members of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 401 voted 71% in Continue readingWorkers’ gains at Cargill set stage for JBS bargaining
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By Jeremy Appel Cargill correspondent for Rankandfile.ca Whether or not workers at Cargill’s High River, Alberta, plant go on strike Monday, there’s no question the past 20 months have been a long, painful journey. Jamie Welsh-Rollo has worked at Cargill since June 2018. She is a cryovac operator and serves as a liaison between the Continue readingStories from the inside: Cargill workers speak
By Jeremy Appel Cargill correspondent for Rankandfile.ca Workers at Cargill’s High River, Alberta meatpacking facility have overwhelmingly rejected the company’s latest contract offer and management has escalated tensions by serving a lockout notice. The Cargill plant was the site of the largest COVID outbreak in North America in April 2020, with 950 workers — almost Continue readingCargill prepares lockout & scabs as workers reject offer
By Jeremy Appel In 1968, The Beatles released the song Blackbird, expressing their sympathies for the civil rights movement. “You were only waiting for this moment to arrive,” sings Paul McCartney before the song’s chorus. Tom Hesse, the president of United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 401, says he was reminded of this lyric Continue readingAlberta workers take on Cargill and its record profits
These low-wage, essential workers in Ottawa are getting organized By Michelle Paquette and Doug Yearwood After large private sector grocery retailers introduced pay increases for frontline workers, Herb & Spice—a locally owned and operated grocery store in Ottawa— announced that its employees would receive a $1.50/hour hazard pay increase. Unlike other grocery stores who have Continue readingGrocery workers talk poverty wages and pandemic profits
By Emily Leedham Workers reveal fear, frustration, and doubt in Cargill’s ability to manage the COVID-19 outbreak at the High River meatpacking plant in a recent Telephone Town Hall. RankandFile.ca obtained an automated transcript of a Telephone Town Hall between members of Cargill plant management, the Alberta Government, Alberta Health Services, and Cargill plant workers Continue readingCargill workers’ frustrations revealed in telephone town hall
Workers in the “gig economy” are organizing to transform the precarious working conditions in their sector. On November 6, Foodora couriers and Uber drivers hosted a morning rally outside of the Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB) to draw attention to their respective union drives with the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) and United Food Continue readingGig workers rising: Foodora couriers and Uber drivers organizing for justice
Kevin Bittman from Unifor 594 in Regina, Saskatchewan discusses impending lockout for Co-op refinery workers. www.unifor594.com/ Mike Espenell, from IBEW 2034 discusses how Brian Pallister’s cuts to Manitoba Hydro have impacted Hydro’s ability to respond to last week’s snow storm, which knocked out power for nearly 50,000 Manitobans. www.ibew2034.com/ Jeff Traeger, President of UFCW Local Continue readingBuilding worker solidarity across sectors
The party that wins the Manitoba election on Sept. 11 will prove crucial to ensuring unions in the province can defend the rights of their workers. Changes have occurred under the Pallister government that has negatively affected many of UFCW’s members, Local 832 president Jeff Traeger said. The current Labour Relations Act, Employment Standards Code, Continue readingManitoba election results critical to unions
By Bianca Cunningham “Three years ago I was at a union meeting and a member stood up and asked why we got such good pay and benefits as Saskatoon Co-op employees,” said Jodi Smith, a member of Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 1400. “Grant Wicks, now the general manager of the co-op, answered that Continue readingSaskatoon Co-op strike didn’t beat two-tier
Editor’s Introduction The Saskatoon Co-op strike has been on since November 1 with strikers fighting against an increasingly ugly employer that wants a two-tier contract that would sell out all future hires. Recently, the case for backing the strikers was made by Andrew Stevens and Charles Smith. A new opinion piece with a different view Continue readingSaskatoon Co-op Strike: Reply to Pohler
By Haseena Manek Employees of a Your Independent Grocer franchise in Cornwall, Ontario have been on strike since November 23 as employer and franchise owner John Baxtrom and bargaining agent of parent company Loblaws Companies Ltd., refuse to return to the table. RankandFile.ca spoke with Roland Lapins, Eastern Region Director of Local 1006A of the Continue readingCornwall grocery workers strike: “You don’t need a union to bargain for minimum wage”