February 4, 2010- Only 50 of the 165 laid off Nadeau Poultry workers will return to their
jobs in St-François-de-Madawaska as a result of Olymel/Westco's
proposal.
February 4, 2010- Only 50 of the 165 laid off Nadeau Poultry workers will return to their
jobs in St-François-de-Madawaska as a result of Olymel/Westco's
proposal.
Nadeau Poultry manager Yves Landry is disappointed the Government
of New Brunswick announced last Friday it will not intervene to clarify
the intent of its original Order designating Nadeau Poultry Farm Ltd.
as the federal plant in New Brunswick for processing New
Brunswick-grown chickens. "The Ministerial Order said 'processing' not
'custom kill,'" he pointed out.
Landry said Olymel/Westco's
proposal is to have Nadeau to "custom kill" only. The majority of jobs
involved preparation, packing, maintenance, sanitation, and selling,
processing tasks Nadeau was responsible for prior to Olymel/Westco
moving almost 80 per cent of New Brunswick-grown chickens out of the
province. "All of those roles and the jobs associated with them would
be moved to Quebec," he said. "Olymel/Westco's proposal would mean
rehiring only 50 workers, a far cry from the 165 laid off when they
chose to send the majority of New Brunswick's live birds to Olymel in
Quebec," said Landry.
New Brunswick jobs become Quebec jobs, Landry pointed out.
Landry indicated surprise as well at the government's refusal to
intervene: "The government's release cited an objective analysis of the
industry that concluded requiring chicken produced in the province to
be processed at the Nadeau plant would warrant the level of employment
it had prior to the layoffs:" Clearly, said Landry, the Order was meant
to restore the level of employment prior to the live chickens going to
Quebec.
Landry indicated the company appreciated the
government's offer to mediate negotiations and confirmed that Nadeau
had sent a letter to the Department indicating its willingness to
discuss Olymel/Westco's proposal (January 22) and Nadeau Poultry's
counter proposal (January 25th,). However, Nadeau, he said, requested
that mediated discussion also focus on factors causing instability in
the sector and on longer term solutions and strategies aimed at
restoring stability of the supply managed system in the province.
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