Cargill reopens poultry plant in London, Ontario

The Cargill poultry processing plant in London, Ontario, that had temporarily closed over COVID-19 concerns is back in operation.

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The Cargill poultry processing plant in London, Ontario, that had temporarily closed over COVID-19 concerns is back in operation.

According to an emailed statement from Cargill, the facility resumed operations on April 23.

“We have taken time during the idle to conduct a full, deep clean of the facility,” a Cargill spokesman said. “We have also closed locker rooms, removed microwaves from the cafeteria and taken other additional steps to respond to the community-wide impacts of the virus. ... We want to emphasize that employees should be healthy and not had contact with anyone with the COVID-19 virus for the recommended time before returning to work.”

Derek Hill, general manager of the London facility, added: "We are grateful for our team's dedication and resilience as our facility and community walks through this pandemic together. We are keenly aware that being an essential worker is not easy. We care about our employees and this community. Our thoughts are with our friends and colleagues who have been impacted by the virus. Our focus remains on keeping our team healthy and delivering safe food to people across Canada."

The process of idling the Canadian poultry plant began on April 13, with the company stating that it did so “out of an abundance of caution as our local workforce deals with the community-wide impacts of COVID-19.”

Employees were offered a weekly guarantee of 36 hours of pay during the pause in production.

Cargill, at the time of the plant’s idling, stated that it has made testing available to all its employees. In addition, the company is reinforcing the importance of adhering to provincial stay-at-home orders and encouraged any employees who are sick or have been exposed to anyone with COVID-19 in the last 14 days to stay home. Cargill also offered up to 80 hours of additional paid leave related to COVID-19. 

According to the Cargill website, the London facility processes 100,000 chickens daily, all of which come from farms in southwestern Ontario farms.

Cargill Protein, according to the Poultry International Top Companies Survey, is the 13th largest broiler company in the world. It is also the third-largest turkey company in the United States. Cargill Protein is also a major beef producer in the United States.

View our continuing coverage of the coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic.

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