The recent JBS plant tour in Brooks made for high hopes when opposition Liberal MLA Dr. Swann and I took the tour. JBS stated they are better because they do better, they strive and intend to exceed the standards that apply in all aspects of their operations at all times. On that note I asked them to apply that standard to their feedlot operation with 70 employees. When they declined to do so it prompted Swann to send out a press release calling on the Alberta government to “stand up for paid farm workers employed at the JBS feedlot in Brooks.”
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“This government is making it possible for a multibillion-dollar corporation to charge Alberta taxpayers for injured workers by not making changes to our labour laws,” says Swann. “The Redford Conservatives need to start here and start now with immediate changes to labour legislation surrounding paid farm workers in Alberta.” The Farmworkers Union of Alberta is also calling for legislation, as the JBS case clearly illustrates how badly misused the so-called farm and ranch exemption is. This is the obvious place for the Alberta government to begin the process.
Eric Musekamp
President, Farmworkers Union of Alberta
Bow Island, Alta.
