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Locked out XL Beef employees start boycott campaign

Ongoing XL labour dispute

Ongoing XL labour dispute

Carter Haydu
Published on November 21st, 2009
Published on November 20th, 2009
Carter Haydu
Times-Herald
Topics :
XL Beef , United Food and Commercial Workers , Moose Jaw

Shoppers at Moose Jaw grocery stores on Friday might have seen individuals passing out pieces of paper reading “Tainted Meat.”

However the word “tainted” wasn’t referring to the quality of the meat, but rather how unionized XL Beef employees feel about the ongoing labour dispute with the employer.

Norm Neault, United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Union Local 1400 president and spokesman, said employees are asking for community support by way of a local boycott on XL products.

Although UFCW hasn’t asked Saskatchewan Federation of Labour for support with the boycott yet, Neault said it will.

He said although it may seem difficult, the union is urging residents to help bring an end to the lockout by asking store clerks and managers which are XL, and then avoiding the purchase of such items.

According to Neault, Friday was the first time the union members handed out pamphlets as part of a boycott campaign.

 

Comments

  • Username
    MJ-GUY
    - January 12th, 2010 at 10:51:25

    Sorry guys I don't like unions. As far as I'm concerned if you are on the picket line you need to look out for your best interests. If that means walking the line, fine. If that means getting another job, do it. If I was on the line I would have tried my best to find another job. Life is full of choices and you are the one in control.

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  • Username
    wheels
    - December 9th, 2009 at 16:00:12

    Look at it this way would you work unlimited overtime meaning anytime. NO YOU PROB WOULDNT. Dont forget that while holding a knife or a large power tool of some sort. I used 2 work their @ the people their work hard for their money. Easy 2 say that I know that. So before you think anyone can do that work. think about overtime labor laws it is illegal to ask for that

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  • Username
    amazed
    - November 23rd, 2009 at 09:23:03

    when I say days off to do nothing,I mean go to union meetings out side of work,Every union does it,A rep will get payed to go and discuse union business,Well If that was the case here,Then the union would have been more interested in its members,Than hanging around holding hands and wondering what other goodies the company can pay the reps,And how not to represent it's members.

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  • Username
    amazed
    - November 23rd, 2009 at 08:33:13

    All I can say is WOW!..When has a non-union rep been givin days off to do nothing?.When has a non-union rep got a fair shake at a bargaining table?. Look, unions served there purpose 20 yrs ago,But when you are locked out because your elected reps are not doing there job,I think that is unfair. The workers can go back to work,Do a non-confidence in the union and ask them to leave. Companys are going to spend there money in hard times where they know the work will happen.Not in small cities that have unions,That are ego tripping at there members expence.The reps get there union salary,Members get strike pay/Or some kind of compensation. Turf your union commity,get reps that are there for the members ,and get the pay checks rolling already.

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  • Username
    Bert
    - November 22nd, 2009 at 21:52:31

    2 people fell off a roof yesterday. OH and S inspectors have been called in. One of the two is seriously injured. Hopefully he will be alright. Gotta love all those non union contractors in town who hire 16 year old kids and flaunt every OHS statute in the books.

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  • Username
    Bert
    - November 22nd, 2009 at 21:45:02

    More than fair offer does not take away severance that has already been bargained for in other contracts. If they sign that away there is nothing to stop XL from shutting the plant down the next day thus saving on severance. A fair offer does not take away vacation time that is already in place. A fair offer does not give like a 1.5 percent wage increase over 6 years when inflation is over 2.5 (MLAs gave themselves a 3.3 percent raise last year alone). As to your anti union bias? Good for you. But know that your 40 day weeks, your statutory holidays, your labour laws that porevent racial discrimination and sexual harrasement are all things that Unions had a hand in bringing about. If employers were all as grand as you make them out to be we would not need labour laws. In your perfect world I'm sure we would fire a woman for getting pregnant. Thankfully we do not do that in this country. Walmart just fired 2 women in the states for coming down with swine flu. That is not the world I want for our young workers. At Walmart you get demerits when you book off sick. I am pro union and am unionized. But I have worked non union jobs. And I could tell you many stories. Go talk to anyone at Canada's most famous coffee chain in town and ask them what it is like to work 8 hours without a meal break in contravention of labour law. That happens in this town every day. You really need to get out in the world and take a good hard look at some of the workplaces in Moose Jaw. If you have been fortunate to have a good emplyer, I am happy for you. But there are many bad ones. You guys are hard to take seriously when you talk about people's lives like it is a joke. Or you wish for a cold winter or talk about buying a cheap boat. You are in the minority dude cause I know a lot of people who work non union jobs (some AS MANY AS 3) TO MAKE ENDS MEET. sORRY caps lock.

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  • Username
    MJ
    - November 22nd, 2009 at 20:18:05

    Hey Bert i understand they are locked but what i don't understand is why no one is asking the question"why didn't the union present the first contract"? I understand why you're not asking the question after reading your pro union statements and from what i gather ndp attitude. You're right, maybe i am dense but at least i'm not so blind to see that the union is basicly the root of all these problems by saying they don't know who their members are thus they cannot present the first contract. All the xl people have chosen to follow some leader blindly into the abyss and now are praying for public support. You guys choose only to present the facts that are in your favour by picking and choosing parts of contracts to show the public. I'm only here to show the public the good side of the offers that you guys refuse talk about. I would think that any amount of raise increase in these times would be good let alone all the demands you guys are making. We won't work overtime but you also can't give us a friday off every month. Pull your head out of your you know what! The only thing that union is good for is protecting the weak employees and preventing the strong ones from moving up the ladder because some smuck has 2 days more seniority at the plant. Keep on blaming the company for presenting a more than fair offer with the intention of expanding the plant that your beloved union failed, and i'll say it again so you get it, failed to present to its members. Oh well i seen at least they gave them some toque's.

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  • Username
    trevor
    - November 22nd, 2009 at 20:10:12

    Anybody got a nice boat for sale?

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  • Username
    Another dude
    - November 22nd, 2009 at 18:39:18

    If you'll read back through all the comments I've made (only one, now two in this thread) I've always said that I'm ready to go back to work. Do I want to work at XL? No, but with my level of education and the years I've put in already it is a lot to give up if/when they open up again. Do I want to accept the contracts put forth? No, I find them to be absolutely insulting, especially considering the kill floor manager cannot do half the jobs he's responsible for managing. I'm also rather disgusted with some of the comments posted by people here. When did this community degenerate into such blatant disrespect for it's members? Granted I've only been here for a few years (originally from Alberta), but I cannot believe that a community this size has such hate for its members. Especially members that have done nothing wrong! We've refused contracts yes, contracts that would violate Saskatchewan Labour Law, contracts that remove vacation time from people that have earned it, contracts that would get rid of our severance pay *WITHOUT giving any assurances of an opening after signing. That's right people, we can sign all the contracts on the planet, and the company refuses to give any assurances (legally binding) that they will open the doors.

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  • Username
    Bert
    - November 22nd, 2009 at 18:22:52

    Oh I agree it's not. We had record potash sales, high oil and bumper crops last year. A perfect storm of economic news that does not a sustained boom make. yet the Sask Party went on a spending spree and now we have the second ever highest deficit. But as long as we are talking numbers Bird, let's talk about record low beef prices paid to cattle producers in this province. At a time where their input costs are at all time lows, XL beef sells their end product for more than ever, no? I have not seen a drop in prices at the retail level. But yeah, for companies like XL beef, record low cattle prices are a boom. No contradiction there. Now if you want to sign a contract that gives you 1.25 raise over 6 years (with inflation what it is) be my guest. Does not mean every one has to accept such a pittance.

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  • Username
    bird
    - November 22nd, 2009 at 17:46:12

    Sask is not in a "boom" right now, recession hit, didnt you hear?

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  • Username
    Bert
    - November 22nd, 2009 at 16:36:05

    Bird I do not work at XL. But I am a union member and proud to be one. All I am doing here is counteracting some of the lies and misinformation. They are not on strike. They have been locked out. And it is hard to take people on your side of the argument when they say stuff like QUOTE The employees at XL beef are already overpaid for the little work they do.UNQUOTE I have never worked at a beef plant nor would I want to. If any of you would care to work at XL beef they start at 11 dollars an hour. You can go to their own job postings on the Brooks site to see the working conditions. Working in a cold environment, assembly line work, dangerous work, in a foul smelling environment to b boot. Canada Packers used to pay 14 dollars an hour back in 1985. So do not pretend to tell us that it is easy work for a ton of money. You clowns just do not like it when your lies are answered with facts. Bring some actual facts to the table to make this a bit more interesting cause in a battle of wits some of you are half armed.

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  • Username
    bird
    - November 22nd, 2009 at 13:13:28

    Bert for someone who does not work at xl and has no family that works there, you sure are invested and have alot of comments about how things went down there! I think you are really not saying who you are.

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  • Username
    Bert
    - November 22nd, 2009 at 12:28:07

    MJ were you born dense or did you have to practice at it? They cannot go back to work. THEY ARE LOCKED OUT. (capitalized for emphasis and not yelling)..... In every other workplace, when a contract expires, things go on as normal while a new contract is being negotiated. That is just how things are done. But this company locked them out. What do you not understand?

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  • Username
    don
    - November 22nd, 2009 at 00:26:15

    Well maybe it should stay closed. It's a nasty place anyway - them people who work there could do better than that. Who makes anything from that place? The farmers? No. The workers? No. The people who own it.Yup! Like that stinking stock yards on south hill - it should be closed/moved - the stench that comes from down there is horrible at best and even unbearable at times and who really benefits? Not the wider community that's for sure! We need to diversify this town/province and not focus so much on the cattle industry.

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  • Username
    MJ
    - November 22nd, 2009 at 00:00:47

    It's funny how they all change their story and say they are ready to get back to work now but yet they have voted down the last 2 contracts and didn't even ask the union why they didn't present the first one. Sounds like they want the free winter gym pass.

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  • Username
    Another dude
    - November 21st, 2009 at 22:20:56

    I keep hearing people say 'Get back to work, or Accept the offer'. There are no offers on the table. The company has refused to go back to negotiations with the Union here, the Union in Calgary, and are refusing to start negotiations with the Union in Brooks (their contract ends next month IIRC) Also, at any time the company can lift the lockout and we can start work again. We've worked without an up-to-date contract before, we will again, it's normal procedure for us.

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  • Username
    Mike Dietz
    - November 21st, 2009 at 18:12:36

    HaHa Hard work at XL beef? Come on people! give your heads a shake.. The employees at XL beef are already overpaid for the little work they do... Just accept the offer and get back to work instead of sitting around complainaing all the time... -Mike Dietz.

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  • Username
    Bart
    - November 21st, 2009 at 15:07:17

    I just bought four extra trays of XL bbef to support the plant. I asked the manager and he confirmed it was XL Beef and I picked up extra to show support. I expect others to follow!

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  • Username
    Bert
    - November 21st, 2009 at 11:55:31

    MJ I do not work for XL but I am a union member and proud to be one. How would you like to fiund childcare if you are a single parent when you do not even know what your hours will be oon any given day? We are talking 60 hour weeks with no choice left up to the employee.... Tell me what daycare will let you keep your child there til 8 cause you found out at 3 that you have to work 4 hours extra.... Most daycares close at 6, no? If not all the daycares. If they are truly expanding as you seem to believe then have them create jobs not force people to work 60 hour weeks at a job that is very physically demanding. Out of high school my best friend worked at Canada Packers for the summer. He was 6 foot 1 and maybe 240. At the end of the summer he couldn't close his hand for a month and was down to 220. This is not a desk job. It is hard physical labour that the body needs rest to recover from. And I am not mad. I have no relatives that work at XL so I am only interested as a fellow union member. You guys seem to have a problem though when someone counteracts your propaganda with facts.

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  • Username
    Jordan
    - November 21st, 2009 at 11:46:13

    I don't get paid overtime I work till the work is done. All these union creeps should be shipped to Sudan and we'll take the people who would be for the freedoms jobs like those provide. Good to see the union taking such a mature and level headed paths. I can't believe people take the time to print and distribute this which will ultimately end up in the trash. Thinkin about the environment too lol. Macdonalds is always hiring lol

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  • Username
    MJ
    - November 21st, 2009 at 11:44:43

    So let me get my facts straight. You guys don't want to work the overtime, don't want to work any less time just perfect little 40 a week and as far as the less pay thing, yet again the less pay thing came from when the union put the summer offer to death. You sound like you are starting to get mad bert. Just settle down and make sure to put your lock out vest on before you come back and post again. Speaking of which do they make winter insulated ones?

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  • Username
    Bert
    - November 21st, 2009 at 11:37:47

    # XL has demanded that the employees pay for their own long term disability. # The company demanded they be able to take away the fifth week of vacation time that was grandfathered in previously for members. # Members are being offered less for wages than what was recently settled by a major competitor of XL in Alberta. # The company has demanded that they be able to enforce mandatory overtime for an unlimited number of weeks throughout the year. # XL Foods has also placed a new demand on the table. Currently the company has been able to force a shortened workweek on employees (from the usual 37 hours to a 32 hour workweek) five times per year. The company wants to be able to increase this to twelve times per year. Yet MJ would have you believe that XL wants to create jobs in Moose Jaw? They actually want to be able to shorten the workweek more often. The bulk of their processing is and will remain in Alberta.

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  • Username
    MJ
    - November 21st, 2009 at 11:37:31

    Or did the company actually tell the union that it was going to expand here in moose jaw. All this bs about the severance only came around after the union failed to present the summer offer. It seems so many people fail to remember the beautiful summer offer that was put to death by the union. Just think you guys will save on gym memberships with all the exercise you're gonna get this winter.

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  • Username
    Bert
    - November 21st, 2009 at 11:31:35

    You are very selective with your facts. The company played dirty pool from the start laying these workers off when they knew very well what their gameplan was going to be. The company wants the workers to give up severance packages that were bargained for and have to be paid by law. There is nothing to stop the company from shutting the plant down the day after a contract is signed in which these severance packages have been signed away. Get your facts straight. The upgrades and expansion took place at their Alberta plant. So don't kid yourself about them wanting to create jobs in Moose Jaw. You probably fell for the same line from the multimess builders.

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  • Username
    MJ
    - November 21st, 2009 at 11:22:30

    Are you serious observer, the companies fault? Maybe you should get your clues straight and see that this summer the company informed the union that it would like to expand the plant to build a processing plant here instead of shipping it to calgary. They said they are willing to invest millions into this plant in moose jaw but they want the union to present their offer to the members. The union said it didn't know who its members where and wouldn't present any offer until the people where back to work. This is where all this b.s. started. Funny as soon as we got locked out the union miraculously knew who its members where, well kind of, they are paying people to walk the line that only have a half day of orientation but thats a whole other story. This latest ploy to gain public opinion is just a joke. I can't believe someone got paid to come up with this idea. Sorry xl people, you don't have any public support except for the most extreme union loving liberals out there. Time to tell your union that you believe they are not doing a good job for you and fire them. Tell the company you guys are willing to get back to work and present the company with your own offer and elect a few people to go to the table a bargain on your behalf. Good luck out there guys.

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  • Username
    Bert
    - November 21st, 2009 at 11:17:23

    Sorry JJ.... the flap your gums part was uncalled for. It's just that it is very sad when I see people coming on to this site to post anti union comments that are not based on fact and are downright despicable. Everyone is entitled to an opinion but when people on maanagement side come on to merely taunt, say they wish for a bitterly cold winter (which would suck for all of us and not just those walking a picket line), calling the workers greed, and taliking about being able to buy their snowmobiles cheap it is just distasteful. A lot of these people will have to sell personal effects just to put food on the table, and it is nothing that deserves to be joked about. Why is it the union that is greedy? Has it ever occurred to you that the company is? These jobs start out at like 11 dollars an hour. How would you like to work at a kill plant for 11 dollars an hour when McDonald's and Dairy Queen are paying 10.75? If Saskatchewan is enjoying a supposed boom, why are so many companies in this province paying 1985 era wages? Once again, these people are locked out. They are not on strike. Keep on siding with the Walmarts (they just fired 2 people for catching H1N1 in the states) of the world if you wish but please come armed with actual facts. And for the record, I do not work for Xcel, I am not on welfare (really is that the best u guys have), and I am not homeless. And Moose Jawvian, get your facts in order as well. When the vote is well over 90 percent to reject a horrendous offer, it is the workers who are deciding. The workers are the Union.

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  • Username
    J.J.
    - November 21st, 2009 at 11:04:55

    Also, Bert; if you were to came to my place of business and started telling potential customers to not buy a product in my store because of some dispute YOU were having with the manufacturer, you'd not get very far. This fight is not the grocery retailers' fight.

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  • Username
    J.J.
    - November 21st, 2009 at 10:54:01

    So locked out workers have to walk the picket line? Locked out workers are paid strike pay? Why are you so rude?

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  • Username
    Bert
    - November 21st, 2009 at 10:26:50

    JJ you are typical of everyone who bashes these workerw. Why don't you go read a little before you flap your gums? You say, QUOTE dmj also says they didn't vote to strike so how can the union make them UNQUOTE Well if you were informed you would know that these workers are not on strike. They have been locked out by their employer. Get a clue!

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  • Username
    observer
    - November 21st, 2009 at 10:07:58

    Darn rights I will boycott them. After all it is XL who is screwing the taxpayers over with the cost to replace their sewer line. And it is XL who started this labor dispute putting a major dent in our economy. Not to mention the effect it is having on cattle producers in the area having to ship their product farther afield.

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  • Username
    J.J.
    - November 21st, 2009 at 10:04:20

    DiscoverMooseJaw reports these flyers as saying "tainted with a labor dispute"...not "tainted meat". If the workers are going into businesses passing this stuff out, they might be breaking the law. dmj also says they didn't vote to strike so how can the union make them? Seems to me they must have agreed else why are they out there? The union ain't their daddy.

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    • Username
      Harold
      - November 21st, 2009 at 17:56:54

      So you didn't read the picture above that says 'Tainted Meat' then?

  • Username
    trevor
    - November 21st, 2009 at 09:53:10

    Sorry no pity or support from me. I'm waiting for the flyers with the cheap boats, skidoos, and trucks for sale to come out. LOL

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  • Username
    Moose Jawvian
    - November 21st, 2009 at 01:09:52

    Okay guys seriously you have to remember that it is the union that is running this show and not the workers. It was the union that got them into this mess earlier this summer and it was the UNION who made the flyers. XL obviously does not want to open up its door ( just yet). I am hoping they will in the future. I don't agree with what these flyers have on them but I would not be so close minded to blame the workers walking the line. Blame it on the Guy or Gal that made the flyer.

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  • Username
    Harold
    - November 20th, 2009 at 22:40:06

    Seriously?!? You've chosen to hand out pamphlets that say 'Tainted Meat' to the public after a lot of people have died because of it across Canada? Your brain trust over at the UFCW had better be rethinking their frickin' strategy, as the public is already sensitive about this issue. Show some sensitivity for God's sake! Gerry Ritz had to disappear from the public eye after he made some insenstive remarks about tainted meat. I just can't figure out what the hell you idiots are thinking.

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  • Username
    Lynn B
    - November 20th, 2009 at 21:58:57

    Go back to work already!!!

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  • Username
    Santa
    - November 20th, 2009 at 18:34:22

    Nice try getting me involed in your stupid dispute. I will contiue to eat beef even if it dose come from XL. I think your reasons are stupid for being locked out I hope you are making more money on stike pay then you were on EI ho ho ho

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