Layoffs, recalls issued | No timeline given on when plant will resume full operations
Partial operations at the XL Foods beef processing plant in Brooks, Alta., were scheduled to resume Oct. 16 after a chaotic weekend of employee layoffs and recalls.
XL management issued layoff notices to 2,000 employees Oct.13 and then recalled 800 of them Oct. 14 in a turn of events that suggested conflict between XL and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
The CFIA temporarily revoked the plant’s operating licence Sept. 27 after discovery of E. coli O157:H7 in some of its beef products triggered the recall of more than one million kilograms of meat. Two weeks later, the CFIA authorized partial operation of the plant to assess whether a list of improvements and protocol changes had been made.
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XL paid its 2,200 employees for a 32-hour work week for the first two weeks of closure while CFIA inspectors examined the plant and made requests for upgrades to food safety systems.
But XL issued layoff notices Oct. 13, saying the CFIA could not provide “a definitive timeline” for reopening the plant. The move halted CFIA plans to process 5,100 carcasses inside the plant and test them for contamination.
On Oct. 14, XL issued recall notices to 800 of its employees, whom it said in a news release were “key to XL Foods efforts to satisfy the conditions of the temporary licence to demonstrate the implementation of enhanced protocols.”
Calls to XL Foods Oct. 15 were greeted with a voice recording with directives to company news releases.
The labour situation has caused turmoil for the employees and the town of Brooks, population 14,000, where XL is the largest employer.
“I think they may have tried to call the CFIA’s bluff, and put pressure on them to give them opening, and CFIA didn’t back down,” said Doug O’Halloran, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 401, which represents most of the XL workers.
“It’s just a daily kerfuffle of mistakes and bad management,” he said.
“I just can’t understand the management decision that lays 2,000 people off one day and then calls back 800 the next day. It’s just ludicrous.”
The federally inspected plant is one of the largest in Canada, responsible for an estimated 40 percent of beef cattle slaughter in the West.
Federal agriculture minister Gerry Ritz issued a statement Oct. 14 reiterating his stance that the plant will not reopen until all safety issues have been addressed.
Alberta agriculture minister Verlyn Olson discussed the situation with town officials in Brooks last weekend and said at a news conference that he had also talked with XL Foods co-chief executive officer Brian Nilsson.
“We need the plant to be open to get the necessary processing and testing done to put CFIA in a position to re-certify the plant,” Olson said he told Nilsson.
Wildrose party leader Danielle Smith said Oct. 14 the serious nature of the plant closure requires political co-operation.
“There are big challenges to overcome, but with all parties working together, we believe passing inspection and getting workers back to work by next week is possible,” said Smith.
“Getting the XL Foods plant back in production is the first step to rebuilding consumer and industry confidence.”
The Alberta Liberal party called for a federal review of what it called “the tainted meat scandal”, noting the U.S. Department of Agriculture plans to conduct its own audit of CFIA food safety protocols.
“Albertans deserve to know why action was only taken once the Americans blew the whistle, and why it was delayed,” said leader Raj Sherman.
“I want to know if there was some sort of ‘shoot, shovel and shut up’ interference being run.”
The call for a review echoed a similar demand issued Oct. 10 by Local 401 and the Alberta Federation of Labour.
There was no word on when the plant will reopen as of press time for this issue Oct. 15. The CFIA has said it will not allow beef to be shipped from the XL plant until it is confident food safety controls are in place and working.
