Jack Forgan Meat Ltd., a family owned hog slaughter plant operating in Winnipeg for 53 years, closed its doors May 8 over an apparent disagreement with the owner of its building.
“I don’t think it should have a major impact” on Manitoba hog producers, said Gerry Friesen, chair of Manitoba Pork.
Friesen said the company was buying 1,000 to 1,200 hogs per day.
Before the strike at Fletcher’s Fine Foods in Red Deer, Alta., Manitoba hog plants had room for at least 6,000 hogs per day, with one shift five days a week.
Read Also
Ag In Motion 2025 site hub of activity
day before Ag in Motion preview.
Friesen said he anticipates the three remaining hog plants will be able to handle the extra hogs from Forgan and Fletcher’s.
A spokesperson for the United Food and Commercial Workers union, which represents the 65 out-of-work employees, said they were called to a meeting at noon on May 8 and given the news.
Don Keith said it seems Forgan management and owners of Best Brand Meats, who own the Forgan plant, could not agree on its long-term future.
Officials from the companies will not talk to reporters.
The president of Best Brand Meats, Marshall Freed, used to own Friendly Family Farms, a poultry processor in Steinbach, Man.
Earlier closures
Workers went on strike at Jack Forgan Meat last summer over wages. The company was also closed at least once in the past two years because of health concerns from government inspectors.
Keith said the company employed 100 people a year ago.
“The workforce has shrunk, indicating the workplace was not going 100 percent,” said Keith.
With the expansion in the hog industry, workers may be able to find new opportunities, he said.
There have been rumors about Forgan reopening in a other location, or Freed establishing a hog plant in the building, he added.
