The partial strike at the Bear Hills Pork Producers hog barns near Biggar, Sask., escalated Jan. 3 into a full-scale labor battle when management locked out its workers.
It is the first hog barn strike and lockout in Saskatchewan. Bear Hills is the only unionized hog production facility in Western Canada.
Eight to 10 managers from Heartland Pork Management Services have taken over from the 13 employees, who joined the Grain Services Union in February 1999.
Heartland Pork Management Services, a subsidiary of Saskatchewan Wheat Pool, manages the barns.
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The labor dispute began Dec. 23 when the union informed the company that workers would no longer work on weekends or statutory holidays, and reserved the right to increase their strike action.
Managers worked on Christmas Day and Boxing Day, as well as on New Year’s Day and Sunday, Jan. 2. Management locked out the workers on Jan. 3.
Heartland manager John LaClare said the company proceeded with the lockout for the sake of the 18,000 pigs inside the barns.
“We need to maintain quality animal health,” said LaClare.
“The uncertainty created by the strike notice and notification of the possibility that the strike action might be escalated, we needed to position ourselves so that we can ensure that we had staff there to look after the hogs at all times.”
The union and Heartland management have been negotiating since February.
Union spokesperson Larry Hubich said the union has been asking Heartland to give hog barn workers the same benefits available to other Saskatchewan Wheat Pool employees.
It also wants workers to be allowed to work a 40-hour work week. Employees currently work 11 days and then get three days off, which Hubich said is equivalent to working an extra day every two weeks.
“If the employer was prepared to treat these people fairly and equitably, as any other employee of any other subsidiary of Sask Wheat Pool, we wouldn’t be heading into a strike vote,” said Hubich a few days before the partial strike.
Staying competitive
LaClare said his company had made a fair offer to the workers. He said Bear Hills Pork Producers must make sure that “employees receive compensation that is industry competitive with the hog industry.”
Hubich said workers at all Saskatchewan hog barns suffer because they are not protected by the minimal provisions of the provincial Labor Standards Act.
