Published: August 6, 2020
Updated: August 6, 2020 4:30 p.m.
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The union representing more than 2,000 workers at the Maple Leaf plant in Brandon is requesting closure for further investigation and cleanup after 4 members tested positive for COVID-19.
UCFW Local 832 president Jeff Traeger said he reported on a first case on Sunday and three other cases Wednesday night.
“Maple Leaf did everything possible to prevent COVID from entering its plant, but in the end it failed,” he said. “That’s why you hear TUAC’s call to close the plant until everyone waiting for the verification effects returns and also to do a genuine thorough cleaning.”
The union expressed these considerations in a letter to the Minister of Health, Seniors and Active Life Cameron Friesen in a letter on Thursday morning. The Minister addressed Dr. Brent Roussin, the province’s leading public aptitude officer.
The province announced 18 new instances in a Brandon group on Thursday, bringing the total to 28, and a provincial spokesman said 3 of the 4 instances were members of the group.
Traeger claimed that Maple Leaf complied with all protection recommendations for pandemic prevention and, in some cases, went further, adding PPE, an additional point of contact and cleaning each day, and examining others before entering the site.
There are more than 2,300 other people running at the plant.
Outbreaks at other plants, such as the Cargill plant in Alberta, which had more than 900 inflamed employees throughout the community, affected a total of 1,500 people. The union is asking for extra precautions so it’s not bubbling beneath the surface here.
“(Our members) are afraid. They’re very afraid,” Traeger said. “They think it’s a great threat to lead to paintings. Many of them have asked to close the plant or, if we can’t, if they can’t move on to the paintings or not.”
Not running is an option due to precautions taken through Maple Leaf. Workers also worry that if they have a symptom and want to isolate themselves, they will receive a payment or a matrix.
Janet Riley, vice president of communications, said in an email that after a review of the situation, the transmission appears to be on the network and at the plant. He also stated that they had activated their COVID-19 reaction plan and had asked other team members to isolate themselves as a precaution.
“We will continue to operate our Brandon plant as long as we can provide an environment that protects the protection of our workers while they work,” he said.
According to the union, Maple Leaf resisted the closure of the plant, believing it spread on the net and not at the plant. The idea of the instance organization is similar to that of a user traveling from eastern Canada.
Roussin said the plant is still in a position where he wants to close.
“When we look at it, we don’t see any evidence of transmission in the workplace, so it would be what we’d be involved in if we saw it,” he said.
Opposition leader Wab Kinew requested that the plant be closed until Monday, so it may be verified very well.
“In this case, when we see the instances increasing and the organization that alerts us to those instances, the union says there is a challenge and we have to press the pause button, so we have to do that,” he said.
According to its website, the Maple Leaf plant in Brandon processes 90,000 a week, making it one of the largest in the country. Other processing facilities have been closed in Canada, such as the Olymel plant in Yamachiche, Quebec, and the pig continues to suffer delays.
Sylvain Charlebois, senior director of Dalhousie University’s agri-food research lab, said plant closures would cause primary disruption in the industry.
“The challenge we have with birds and red meat is that the production cycle is ruthless, it is very tight. If you avoid the production cycle for a few weeks, you end up with long delays,” he said. “Closing Brandon’s plant will be a measure of last resort.”
Twitter: @ JoshAldrich03