A strike at the Exceldor poultry processing plant in St-Anselme, Quebec, reached an end, after union members accepted a settlement organized by mediators from the Ministry of Labour.
About 66% of the workers voted on June 26 in favor of the agreement, which includes a 19.75% salary increase, which will reach its maximum in 2025, reported the Montreal Gazette. Improved working conditions were also part of the negotiations.
The strike had been taking place since May 23. Because of Exceldor’s inability to process and package poultry due to a lack of workers, about 1 million chickens had to be euthanized. The company had tried to send as many chickens to other plants in Quebec and Ontario, but challenges related to bird sizes and infrastructures at other plants proved problematic.
The St-Anselme plant is slowly ramping up production. It is expected to take about 10 days for the facility to operate at full capacity, according to union members.
The strike, and subsequent euthanizing of birds, had caught the attention of Quebec Premier François Legault, who called for an end to the strike.
“We've been euthanizing thousands of chickens every day for almost a month rather than taking them to the slaughterhouse due to the strike at Exceldor's. This is about 13 % of Quebec's chicken production that we throw in the trash every week. There's a word for it. This is waste. And it needs to stop,” Legault posted on his Facebook page.
“The situation is having a negative effect not only on our producers but also on our restaurant owners and traders trying to meet rising demand. Seems to me they've had her hard enough like this for a year and a half.”
Exceldor, according to the WATTPoultry.com Top Companies Database, is a 260-member cooperative that processes about 1.5 million chickens and turkeys per week.
