Lakeside Packers

Lakeside Packers is a beef producer based in Brooks, Alberta. They are the operating company of Lakeside Farm Industries, Ltd. and are a subsidiary of Tyson Foods, an American corporation.

As of June 2004, Lakeside Packers had received roughly $33 million Canadian dollars in financial aid from the Government of Alberta since a cow with bovine spongiform encephalopathy was found on an Alberta farm in May of 2003 ^{[http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/mini/CTVNews/1087297879731_125?s_name=election2004&no_ads=]} .

History

2005 Labour dispute

Lakeside was not unionized until August 27, 2004 when the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 401 won a certification vote. This has resulted in acrimonious negotiations for a first collective bargaining agreement with the facility management.

The UFCW won certification by taking advantage of the demographics of the plant's workforce. Among the local Albertan population there is little support for unionization, but the majority of Lakeside employees are now immigrants, with many coming from Newfoundland and Sudan. The UFCW has staff trained in the various languages and cultures of these groups and thus was able to win their support.Lopsided|date=September 2008

The union claims the dispute is not simply about money, they claim that workers (especially immigrants) are mistreated at the plant. For example, the union claims that workers are denied washroom breaks and are fired in they are injured on the job.

Until October 2005, negotiations were unsuccessful. A first attempt to strike in July 2005 was blocked by the Albertan Government, which appointed a disputes inquiry board to try and resolve the dispute. The board tabled a non-binding solution to the dispute. On September 30, the workers had voted 90% in favour of the new agreement, however Tyson Foods rejected the offer.

The UFCW then called for another strike, which commenced on October 12. However, the strike had almost no support from the plant's "born and bred" Albertans, who wish to continue working at Lakeside and dispute the union's claims regarding mistreatment. Albertan workers also generally deny there is any discrimination at Lakeside.

Labour disputes at Albertan slaughterhouses have often turned violent, a notorious example being the dispute at Edmonton's Gainers Foods in 1986 when replacement workers and police officers were attacked. Within two weeks of the strike's commencement, both the UFCW and Lakeside management had members facing criminal charges connected to the dispute.

But to the surprise of many, the dispute was settled in just over three weeks. On November 4, 2005, members UFCW Local 401 voted to accept to first contract at Lakeside. 56% of members voted to accept the contract. The contract's details aren't all clear but it does allow for a union to be involved at Lakeside. New employees will be required to join the UFCW. Employees who crossed the picket line will not be required to join the union, but will be required to pay union dues under the "Rand formula."

Although about 1,000 Albertan employees chose to report for work during the strike, the fact that the Albertan economy is currently at full employment would have made it very difficult for Tyson to recruit replacement workers even they had offered high wages. This was not the case in 1986, when the oilpatch was struggling and unemployment was high (especially in Edmonton). This inability to quickly recruit replacement workers probably helped convince Tyson to settle the strike and accept a union at their plant.

External links

* [http://www.lakesidepackers.com/ Lakeside Packers web site]
* [http://www.terribletyson.com/ UFCW Local 401 Dispute Site]