MONTREAL -- Faced with the impasse in negotiations between Olymel and workers at its Vallée-Jonction plant, the Éleveurs de porcs du Québec are calling for the personal intervention of Premier François Legault to resolve the conflict.
The workers of the CSN-affiliated union have rejected by 57 per cent the agreement in principle, reached on Aug. 14, between union representatives and management. For David Duval, president of the Éleveurs de porcs du Québec, the rejection is a 'real slap in the face' for his members, who are the 'victims' of this conflict.
"It's the end of the negociatating, it's been 23 sessions that they've had," he lamented at a press conference in Longueuil. "It must be resolved quickly."
The number of hogs awaiting slaughter has reached a new record of 150,000, the association reports. Duval estimates that under current conditions, it would take at least six months for the situation to return to normal.
Ten days after saying that farmers would soon have no choice but to proceed with a 'humane slaughter,' Duval said he could not say when farmers would be forced to euthanize the pigs in their pens.
"We're trying to delay it as long as possible, but it's costing farmers a lot of money," he said.
Labour Minister Jean Boulet has appointed Jean Poirier as a special mediator "to resolve the dispute as quickly as possible," he announced on Twitter, translated from French. Poirier has extensive knowledge of the industry and has all the skills required to help the parties resolve the impasse. The mediator is expected to meet with the parties as early as this Wednesday afternoon. Legault did not immediately respond.
In an interview with The Canadian Press last week, Boulet said the government could not impose a solution on the parties in a private dispute. He also said that the right to strike is protected by the constitution.
A REFUSED AGREEMENT
On the union side, Martin Maurice, president of the Syndicat des travailleurs d'Olymel à Vallée-Jonction (CSN), said in a press release Tuesday evening that the employees had rejected the agreement because they considered it unsatisfactory.
Olymel management expressed its deep disappointment earlier Wednesday at the unionized employees' rejection.
"A tentative agreement is not an à-la-carte menu. You can't just pick and choose what works for you," said Paul Beauchamp, Olymel's senior vice-president, in a press release.
Beauchamp believes the rejection of the tentative agreement only exacerbates the negative impact of the strike on hog producers, the Beauce economy and the company.
It states that Olymel has reached the end of its financial capacity "without compromising the viability and sustainability of the plant." The employer invites the workers to reconsider their position.
Olymel represents 80 per cent of the hog slaughter capacity in Quebec, according to the Union des producteurs agricoles du Québec (UPA). The strike began on April 28. The issues in dispute were wages, work schedules and the length of the collective agreement.
