Tyson Foods Force Thousands of Workers onto Picket Lines in Alberta, Canada - IUF News and Urgent Actions
More than 2,300 workers at the Tyson Foods slaughterhouse in Brooks (Alberta) Canada, members of UFCW Local 401, are on strike for a first collective bargaining agreement. Major issues are basic workplace protections like an end to harassment, improved safety training, and better handling of biological hazards. Picket lines went up on October 12, 2005 after Tyson Foods rejected a proposal by a mediator appointed by the Alberta government to facilitate a first-contract agreement.
The majority of the workers are immigrant workers and refugees from Sudan and Somalia, lured to Alberta with the promise of a good job and a more secure future for their families.
Regular updates on the strike can be viewed on the
UFCW Local 401 web-site.
Food inspectors cross picket line to enter Alta's Lakeside packing plant - CBC News
Members of the United Food and Commercial Workers are trying to get a first contract at Lakeside. But hundreds of workers who don't support the strike have shown up for work daily and found themselves pitted against their colleagues as they cross the line.