A promised second shift is now up and running at a major hog plant in Quebec’s Monteregie and is expected to eventually boost the plant’s weekly slaughter capacity by up to 40 per cent. Plans for a second shift at Olymel’s packing plant at Ange-Gardien, about 50 km east of Montreal, have been in the […] Read more
Upgraded Olymel hog plant’s second shift begins
Ange-Gardien plant's slaughter pace to rise by up to 40 per cent
Slaughter resumes at Olymel hog plant
Return to usual pace expected 'in coming weeks'
Hog slaughter resumed Friday at a major Quebec pork plant that had sat idle for over four months, as striking employees now return to work with a new six-year contract. The Olymel plant at Vallee-Jonction, south of Quebec City, restarted daytime and evening hog slaughter shifts Friday after “maintenance and sanitation” work on Wednesday and […] Read more
Striking Olymel workers accept new six-year deal
Slaughter could restart Friday at earliest, company says
Striking workers at a major hog slaughter and cutting plant in Quebec’s Beauce region have agreed to a new six-year contract that could see slaughter resume Friday at the earliest. Olymel and the CSN-affiliated Syndicat des travailleurs d’Olymel Vallee-Jonction (STOVJ) announced Tuesday afternoon that unionized workers at the company’s Vallee-Jonction plant, south of Quebec City, […] Read more
Olymel, union reach second tentative deal to end strike
Company postpones threatened layoffs pending employees' vote Tuesday
A second agreement in principle has been reached between meat packer Olymel and the union for one of its major Quebec hog slaughter and processing plants to end a months-long strike — this time under threat of layoffs. Olymel and the CSN-affliliated Syndicat des travailleurs de Olymel Vallee-Jonction (STOVJ) announced Sunday afternoon they had reached […] Read more
Union rejects province’s call for arbitration in Olymel strike
Labour minister had proposed third-party settlement
A proposal from Quebec’s labour minister to end a four-month strike at a major hog slaughter plant, which has created a backlog of market-weight hogs on farms in Eastern Canada, has been rejected by the workers’ union. Provincial Labour Minister Jean Boulet, at a meeting Thursday morning, put out a proposal to meat packer Olymel […] Read more
U.S. seeks to protect pork exports if swine fever hits territories
Policy would distinguish Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands from mainland
Chicago | Reuters — The United States said on Thursday it is seeking to avoid disruptions to pork exports if the territories of Puerto Rico or the U.S. Virgin Islands detect the fatal pig disease African swine fever. The risk for infections in the territories is higher after the Dominican Republic last month confirmed the […] Read more
Olymel’s striking Quebec workers get layoff ultimatum
Hog slaughter plant idle since late April
Updated — The threat of job losses for about half the unionized workers at a major pork packing plant in Quebec is its owners’ latest bid to end a four-month strike. Olymel announced Tuesday it will “abolish” the evening shift at its hog slaughter and processing plant at Vallee-Jonction, about 60 km southeast of Quebec […] Read more
Hopes were raised but hog producers facing yet another crisis
The sector is seeing the best prices in five years, but high feed costs are a crippling blow
Reading Time: 4 minutes For many of Alberta’s long-suffering hog producers, a short-lived bout of profitability may actually be the final straw. “What could have been a beautiful year for the pork industry is starting to turn into a crisis,” said Darcy Fitzgerald, executive director of Alberta Pork. “Until we get further into the fall, we won’t really know […] Read more
Time for arbitration in Olymel strike, PQ says
Province's new mediator not enough, party says
Quebec’s third opposition party is calling on the province’s CAQ government to propose arbitration for an end to a strike at a major pork slaughter plant. The Parti Quebecois’ ag critic, Matane-Matapedia MNA Pascal Berube, and its labour critic, Jonquiere MNA Sylvain Gaudreault, made the pitch Friday, after workers from Olymel’s plant at Vallee-Jonction voted […] Read more
Striking Quebec pork plant staff reject deal with Olymel
Quebec hog farmers call for province to intervene
Quebec’s hog farmers now want Premier Francois Legault to step in on a months-long strike at a major pork packing plant after its workers rejected a tentative deal between their union and employer. Workers at Olymel’s plant at Vallee-Jonction, about 60 km southeast of Quebec City, met Tuesday evening to vote on an agreement in […] Read more
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