Lakeside

[cowman]

I see the union is talking strike pretty hard at Lakeside? Apparently they were asking for $2.00 over four years but good old cheapskate Lakeside thought 30 cents might be more handy! I guess they never made enough in the last couple of years to give the boys a decent raise?
IBP always were a cheap outfit. They like to screw everybody equally! Meanwhile Cargill was reasonable and has seldom had a lot of labor problems, in comparison?
IBP has threatened to keep the doors closed til they break the union...or go bellyup! Hopefully, bellyup? Then maybe a Canadian group could buy it? Maybe?

[farmers_son]

http://calgary.cbc.ca/regional/servlet/View?filename=ca-lakeside-strike20050720

Province prevents Lakeside strike, workers upset
Last updated Jul 20 2005 07:11 AM MDT
CBC News
Some workers at the Lakeside Packers plants are angry that the provincial government has stepped in and stopped strike action planned for Wednesday morning.

About 2,000 employees were set to walk off the job at 5 a.m., to back their efforts to get a first contract from the company. A few hundred still showed up at the Brooks plant in the early morning hours, and at one point tried to block a truck from entering, before union officials intervened.

Tuesday afternoon, the province said it would set up a disputes inquiry board to help management and the United Food and Commercial Workers reach a deal. The move makes any strike action illegal for the next 60 days.

Labour relations experts had predicted that a strike at the Tyson Foods-owned plant would be lengthy, similar to the last job action at the facility in the 1980s, which killed the union.

FROM JULY 19, 2005: Analysts predict any Lakeside strike will be lengthy
The UFCW was certified again last year, and received a 70-per-cent strike mandate in its efforts to reach a first contract with Lakeside, the major employer in town.

Many people in the community are concerned that the racially charged atmosphere at the Brooks plant could turn any labour dispute violent.

About 60 per cent of the employees at the town's biggest employer are immigrants, many from Sudan. Some believe local workers would report for work in the event of a strike, while the new Canadians remain on the picket line.

FROM JULY 14, 2005: Brooks braces for possible strike at Lakeside
The UFCW says it wants a deal that gives its workers wages and benefits on par with those working at Cargill and other meat-packing plants, while many workers say they simply are looking for respect from their employer.

[farmers_son]

The provincial government made the right move, the last thing we need is an ugly strike going on when we need all the capacity we can get IF the border happens to slam shut again next week, and even if it stays open.

There should be ways to resolve this without a strike, and if the government is intervening it just might get it done in a hurry.

[cowman]

I too commend the Alberta government for stepping in and stopping this strike. The fact is no one wins in a strike?
However the government also needs to emphasize that IBP needs to get real and play on a level playing field and not just use this action to allow IBP to continue screwing over their employees?
Tyson/IBP are a really odious corporation...proven time and time again in the USA? They practice just about every dirty trick in the book? Cargill, while not exactly angels, at least try to keep their practices at least half decent? Or at the least, they put out a better public image?