(Olymel video screengrab via YouTube)

Time for arbitration in Olymel strike, PQ says

Province's new mediator not enough, party says

Quebec’s third opposition party is calling on the province’s CAQ government to propose arbitration for an end to a strike at a major pork slaughter plant. The Parti Quebecois’ ag critic, Matane-Matapedia MNA Pascal Berube, and its labour critic, Jonquiere MNA Sylvain Gaudreault, made the pitch Friday, after workers from Olymel’s plant at Vallee-Jonction voted

(Sollio Co-operative Group video screengrab via YouTube)

Olymel, Quebec workers reach deal in principle

Agreement may end months-long strike at hog plant

The union for workers at a major pork slaughter and packing plant in Quebec’s Beauce region says it has a deal that may end a strike which has backed up hogs on farms in the province since late April. The Syndicat des travailleurs d’Olymel Vallee-Jonction (STOVJ) — which represents over 1,000 employees at Olymel’s Vallee-Jonction


(Sollio Co-operative Group video screengrab via YouTube)

Olymel strike talks delayed to mid-month, union says

Quebec hog plant's workers on strike since late April

A two-months-and-counting strike at a major Quebec hog slaughter and processing plant is expected to continue through to mid-July at the earliest due to scheduling issues, the workers’ union says. The Syndicat des travailleurs d’Olymel Vallee-Jonction-CSN — which represents over 1,000 striking workers at Olymel’s plant Vallee-Jonction, about 60 km southeast of Quebec City —

Workers use knives to butcher cattle carcasses at a new Hertzog Meat Co. beef plant at Butler, Missouri on June 14.

Stung by pandemic and JBS cyberattack, U.S. ranchers build new beef plants

CATTLE | A number of new operators are entering the fray, albeit at relatively small volumes

U.S. cattle ranchers and investors are sinking hundreds of millions of dollars into new beef plants after temporary closures of massive slaughterhouses at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic left farmers with nowhere to send animals. A cyberattack against the U.S. unit of Brazilian meatpacking giant JBS SA that idled nearly a quarter of America’s


blake hall alberta

Demand seen soaring for legal, farm-killed meat

LOCAL | Producers, particularly small-scale farmers, would benefit from similar regulations in Manitoba, says Direct Farm Manitoba Demand for on-farm slaughter licences in Alberta has exploded since last summer when a rule change allowed consumers to buy individual animals and have them processed on the farm. Manitoba should have its own, similar regulations, says Direct

(JBSS.infoinvest.com.br)

JBS says all facilities operating after weekend cyberattack

Attackers 'never able to access our core systems'

Chicago | Reuters — All of meatpacker JBS SA’s global facilities are fully operational after a weekend cyberattack disrupted much of its North American and Australian operations, the company said on Thursday. The Brazilian meatpacker’s arm in the United States and Pilgrim’s Pride, a U.S. chicken company mostly owned by JBS, lost less than one


Screengrab from a 2018 video showing cold storage at the JBS beef slaughter and packing plant at Brooks, Alta. (JBS video via YouTube)

JBS plants reopen as White House blames Russia over hack

Washington/Chicago | Reuters — JBS SA employees started returning to U.S. meat plants on Wednesday, a day after the company’s beef operations stopped following a ransomware attack, disrupting meat production in North America and Australia. A notorious Russia-linked hacking group is behind the cyberattack against JBS, a source familiar with the matter said. Brazil’s JBS

(PorcOlymel.com)

Olymel gets home province’s backing for plant upgrades

Quebec to invest $150 million in packer

Pork and poultry producer and packer Olymel has picked up equity investments from its home province to support a total of $315 million in plant upgrades. The Quebec government announced Tuesday it would invest $74 million in Olymel through its economy and innovation ministry’s Fonds pour la croissance des entreprises quebecois (FCEQ) plus $76 million


(Sollio Co-operative Group video screengrab via YouTube)

Workers call strike at Olymel hog plant in Quebec

Producers urged to prioritize heavier hogs when shipping

Talks toward a new contract for unionized employees at meat packer Olymel’s hog slaughter and processing plant in Quebec’s Beauce region have ended in a strike. The Syndicat des travailleurs d’Olymel Vallee-Jonction-CSN, which represents over 1,000 staff at Vallee-Jonction, about 60 km southeast of Quebec City, called an “indefinite” strike effective Wednesday morning, the union

A worker at Cargill’s London, Ont. chicken plant demonstrates the deboning process for a 2014 McDonald’s video on the meat used to make McNuggets. (McDonald’s Canada video screengrab via YouTube)

Cargill shuts Ontario chicken plant against COVID

Other packers being sought to take birds

Agrifood firm Cargill is seeking slaughter space for Ontario chickens at other processors after temporarily closing its London poultry packing plant Tuesday against an outbreak of COVID-19 among workers. The company said Tuesday it was “taking this step out of an abundance of caution as our local workforce deals with the community-wide impacts of COVID-19.”