Workers at a central Saskatchewan hog barn have joined a union, making their barn the first in the industry to be organized.
Eighteen employees of the Bear Hills Pork Producers Ltd. near Perdue., Sask., have joined the Grain Services Union. The union and Heartland Livestock Services, which owns the barn along with local investors, will try to forge a collective agreement later this month.
“They’re just looking for a fair shake,” said Mike Latta, the local union official who organized the certification drive.
The Saskatchewan Labor Relations Board has certified the GSU to represent the barn workers. Heartland, a Saskatchewan Wheat Pool subsidiary, did not challenge the certification.
Read Also
Ag in Motion innovation awards showcase top 2025 ag technology
The 2025 Ag in Motion Innovation Awards celebrated winners across five categories: agronomics, agtech, business solutions, environmental sustainability and equipment.
No other hog barn on the Prairies is unionized, according to labor officials in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta.
Latta said he was approached by an anonymous hog barn worker who wanted to unionize the three-site pig barns.
Latta said workers want their first contract to define the rules of the workplace. They want to clarify hours of work, days off, holiday pay and safety measures.
In most industries workers are covered by minimum workplace standards set out in provincial labor laws. These describe minimum wages, mandatory days off, rest periods and other matters.
But all three prairie provinces exempt hog barn workers from the law’s coverage. Provincial governments consider hog barns to be farms, and therefore the workers are farm workers and are not included.
“As farm workers you’re not covered by worker’s compensation, the hours of work aren’t regulated, (you’re often) not paid for holidays,” said Latta.
Many concerns of the workers at the Bear Hills barns would have been met by applying the labor standards law, but because it doesn’t apply, unionizing seemed the workers’ best way to enact firmer workplace rules, said Latta.
Heartland manager John LaClare said he doesn’t think having a unionized hog barn will substantially affect the operation.
“The reality of the business is that you’ve got live animals in there, who need care and attention, and whether your staff has decided to organize or not … the tasks you need to perform in the barn and how you manage it really don’t change,” said LaClare.
Larry Hubich, the GSU official who will negotiate the workers’ first contract, said establishing written language, basic rules and a clear policy on how workers move to higher wage rates will be his main focus.
“We’re talking about very basic and fundamental workers’ rights,” said Hubich.
LaClare said he respects the workers’ decision to unionize.
“The right to organize is something that employees have, and if they choose to do that, then we’ll work with them to make the working conditions and their jobs as fulfilling as possible, the same as we would if they chose not to organize,” said LaClare.
The GSU already represents workers at Heartland’s auction markets.
Latta said he thinks unionizing this hog barn is “the tip of the iceberg.”
He said the hog industry has changed dramatically from the small family farms that used to dominate. Now many operations are owned by corporations that the workers hardly know.
“You can’t go to the bosses now, because the bosses aren’t in the barn,” said Latta.
Latta said the GSU has been approached by other hog barn workers interested in unionizing.
