Calgary mom outraged as stats show Alberta slow to prosecute unsafe employers
Saskatchewan prosecutes four times as many cases
The province's workplace safety prosecution record is drawing fire, as new figures show signifi cantly fewer cases were taken to court last year than in Saskatchewan, with a workforce one-quarter the size of Alberta's.
Alberta wrapped up prosecutions on 11 workplace safety cases in 2010. Saskatchewan, meanwhile, has completed 47 cases since its fiscal year began nine months ago.
Connie Field, whose 28-year-old son Jake was electrocuted at a southern Alberta job site in 2006, said the gap between the two provinces is unacceptable.
"Justice is not being done," said Field, who remains frustrated that occupational charges weren't laid in her son's death despite a government probe pointing to safety problems.
"The only way they're going to change is to hit them hard, which is the pocketbook."
Throughout the past decade, Alberta consistently had one of the highest worker fatality rates in the country, spiking at 166 deaths three years ago. Yet a Herald investigation last year showed prosecutions of workplace safety violations were rare.
Alberta Justice declined to comment Thursday on the province's prosecution rate, deferring questions to Alberta Employment.
Alberta Employment Minister Thomas Lukaszuk said his workplace investigators forward cases to Crown lawyers for review but, as a politician, he can't press for charges, even when safety infractions are found.
Both Alberta and Saskatchewan rely on similar legal tests when determining whether to issue occupational safety charges, asking: Is the case in the public interest and is there a reasonable likelihood of conviction?
Asked whether he's worried about the perception that Alberta is reluctant to take employers who break safety laws to court, Lukaszuk said he's not fixated on the prosecution rate.
"Justice is not a numbers game," the employment minister said. "At the end of the day, I'm not in the business of generating numbers of prosecutions. I'm not in the business of convictions.
"I'm in the business of making
sure that every Albertan comes home safe at the end of the shift."
Alberta Employment statistics released Thursday show worker deaths last year were ahead of the previous year's pace. With two months left to count, 111 employees died in 2010, compared with 85 during the same stretch in 2009.
The province recently revamped its workplace safety enforcement system, hiring additional inspectors, posting company safety records online, and targeting high-risk industries for safety blitzes.
Field, however, contends these measures are "window dressing." If the province was serious about cracking down on safety breaches,
she believes more employers would face court action.
NDP MLA Rachel Notley and union leader Gil McGowan agree.
"It's clear that Alberta is still lagging behind other provinces in terms of prosecutions for workplace health and safety violations," said McGowan, president of the Alberta Federation of Labour.
"The minister talks a tough game and he likes to say his government is willing to put its money where its mouth is, but these numbers suggest to me that's not happening."
Workplace safety prosecutions have ramped up in Saskatchewan since the province introduced a zero-tolerance policy for violations involving inadequate fall protection at construction sites.
Glennis Bihun, executive director of Saskatchewan's occupational health and safety division, said roughly three-quarters of the 60 prosecutions launched in 2010-11 stem from its zero-tolerance approach.
"In those occasions where the risk to life is extremely high or in those infrequent occasions where there isn't a desire for compliance, there needs to be a penalty or a consequence," Bihun said.
In Alberta, occupational safety charges are rarely laid unless a worker is seriously injured or killed. The province's Employment Department notes Saskatchewan has a significantly higher worker injury frequency than Alberta. However, several safety experts contend comparing injury rates is difficult because tracking systems often vary widely from province to province.
Last month, Alberta's employment minister expressed disgust at the results of an inspection blitz of Alberta construction sites.
For six weeks in October and November, provincial workplace officers visited 73 commercial construction sites involving 146 employers in Calgary, Edmonton and other parts of Alberta.
In all, 214 safety violations were discovered. Top hazards involved working at heights without adequate fall protection and failing to properly safeguard against threats, such as openings in floors.
Notley of the NDP argues Alberta should follow Saskatchewan's model and target violations before employees are maimed. "What Alberta has to do is . . . prosecute any violation which undermines the culture of safety.
"Those seemingly less significant violations are as integral to the accidents that ultimately happen. All violations need to be taken seriously," said Notley.
Calgary Herald, Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2012
Byline: Renata D'aliesio, Calgary Herald
Calgary mom outraged as stats show Alberta slow to prosecute unsafe employers
Saskatchewan prosecutes four times as many cases
The province's workplace safety prosecution record is drawing fire, as new figures show signifi cantly fewer cases were taken to court last year than in Saskatchewan, with a workforce one-quarter the size of Alberta's.
Alberta wrapped up prosecutions on 11 workplace safety cases in 2010. Saskatchewan, meanwhile, has completed 47 cases since its fiscal year began nine months ago.
Connie Field, whose 28-year-old son Jake was electrocuted at a southern Alberta job site in 2006, said the gap between the two provinces is unacceptable.
"Justice is not being done," said Field, who remains frustrated that occupational charges weren't laid in her son's death despite a government probe pointing to safety problems.
"The only way they're going to change is to hit them hard, which is the pocketbook."
Throughout the past decade, Alberta consistently had one of the highest worker fatality rates in the country, spiking at 166 deaths three years ago. Yet a Herald investigation last year showed prosecutions of workplace safety violations were rare.
Alberta Justice declined to comment Thursday on the province's prosecution rate, deferring questions to Alberta Employment.
Alberta Employment Minister Thomas Lukaszuk said his workplace investigators forward cases to Crown lawyers for review but, as a politician, he can't press for charges, even when safety infractions are found.
Both Alberta and Saskatchewan rely on similar legal tests when determining whether to issue occupational safety charges, asking: Is the case in the public interest and is there a reasonable likelihood of conviction?
Asked whether he's worried about the perception that Alberta is reluctant to take employers who break safety laws to court, Lukaszuk said he's not fixated on the prosecution rate.
"Justice is not a numbers game," the employment minister said. "At the end of the day, I'm not in the business of generating numbers of prosecutions. I'm not in the business of convictions.
"I'm in the business of making
sure that every Albertan comes home safe at the end of the shift."
Alberta Employment statistics released Thursday show worker deaths last year were ahead of the previous year's pace. With two months left to count, 111 employees died in 2010, compared with 85 during the same stretch in 2009.
The province recently revamped its workplace safety enforcement system, hiring additional inspectors, posting company safety records online, and targeting high-risk industries for safety blitzes.
Field, however, contends these measures are "window dressing." If the province was serious about cracking down on safety breaches,
she believes more employers would face court action.
NDP MLA Rachel Notley and union leader Gil McGowan agree.
"It's clear that Alberta is still lagging behind other provinces in terms of prosecutions for workplace health and safety violations," said McGowan, president of the Alberta Federation of Labour.
"The minister talks a tough game and he likes to say his government is willing to put its money where its mouth is, but these numbers suggest to me that's not happening."
Workplace safety prosecutions have ramped up in Saskatchewan since the province introduced a zero-tolerance policy for violations involving inadequate fall protection at construction sites.
Glennis Bihun, executive director of Saskatchewan's occupational health and safety division, said roughly three-quarters of the 60 prosecutions launched in 2010-11 stem from its zero-tolerance approach.
"In those occasions where the risk to life is extremely high or in those infrequent occasions where there isn't a desire for compliance, there needs to be a penalty or a consequence," Bihun said.
In Alberta, occupational safety charges are rarely laid unless a worker is seriously injured or killed. The province's Employment Department notes Saskatchewan has a significantly higher worker injury frequency than Alberta. However, several safety experts contend comparing injury rates is difficult because tracking systems often vary widely from province to province.
Last month, Alberta's employment minister expressed disgust at the results of an inspection blitz of Alberta construction sites.
For six weeks in October and November, provincial workplace officers visited 73 commercial construction sites involving 146 employers in Calgary, Edmonton and other parts of Alberta.
In all, 214 safety violations were discovered. Top hazards involved working at heights without adequate fall protection and failing to properly safeguard against threats, such as openings in floors.
Notley of the NDP argues Alberta should follow Saskatchewan's model and target violations before employees are maimed. "What Alberta has to do is . . . prosecute any violation which undermines the culture of safety.
"Those seemingly less significant violations are as integral to the accidents that ultimately happen. All violations need to be taken seriously," said Notley.
Calgary Herald, Wednesday, Dec 5, 2012
Byline: Renata D'aliesio
Alberta Federation of Labour lauds ruling that protects worker privacy
Injunction against drug testing upheld by Court of Queen's Bench
Edmonton – The Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL) is calling a ruling that protects workers in the oil sands from non-consensual drug testing a win for human rights.
In a decision on Wednesday, Nov. 28, Court of Queen's Bench Justice Myra Bielby, spoke for the majority opinion and called Suncor's plans for drug testing 'a significant breach of worker's rights,' while upholding an injunction that will prohibit the company from testing employees without cause.
"Employers like drug testing programs because they give the impression that something decisive is being done about safety," AFL president Gil McGowan said. "But these programs don't improve safety. Employers know that, so it's little more than very expensive public relations."
Lawyers for Suncor sought to overturn the injunction so the energy company could move ahead with a random drug testing program that was halted by a Court of Queen's Bench injunction until an arbitration board can deal with a grievance filed by Communications Energy and Paperworkers Local 707, the union that represents 3,400 workers at Suncor's oil sands operations.
"Imposing a regime of random drug testing on an entire workforce is an unwarranted invasion of privacy," McGowan said. "It's invasive, it's demeaning, and it says to workers 'none of you can be trusted.'"
The union has agreed to certain types of drug testing in its collective agreement, including pre-employment screening and with-cause drug testing. As a partner in workplace safety, both CEP 707 and the AFL are in favour of programs that would prevent accidents. There is no evidence, however, that random drug testing makes workplaces safer.
"The evidence suggests that random drug testing can actually make things worse by encouraging people to move from soft drugs, like marijuana that stay in your system for up to a month, to hard drugs like cocaine and crystal meth that are metabolized much more quickly," McGowan said.
This is the second appeal of the injunction that Suncor has lost. In October, the Alberta Court of Appeal ruled that random drug and alcohol testing could not take place until after the Labour Board rules on CEP 707's objections to the program.
-30-
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Gil McGowan, President, Alberta Federation of Labour at 780-218-9888 (cell)
Olav Rokne, AFL Communications Director at 780-289-6528 (cell) or via email [email protected].
Alberta safety law sparks controversy
CALGARY — A Redford government plan to target employers who repeatedly defy the province's safety laws with new penalties of up to $10,000 is being opposed by an industry group representing 2,000 construction firms.
The Alberta Construction Association says the government's new laws to implement administrative penalties next year are too vague, complicated and there's no proof that they'll be effective in making work sites safer.
"There's a presumption that employers are the bad guys, and we'll just ramp up the fines and we'll fix those bad guys," Ken Gibson, executive director of the association, said Wednesday.
"It's not evidence-based. There's no suggestion we can see that it actually is going to work."
Gibson said the association is in favour of a separate government plan that will allow provincial health and safety officers to hand out on-the-spot tickets to everyone on a job site, including owners and workers. The ticket system will help discourage more straightforward safety infractions on job sites, such as an employee who refuses to wear a helmet, he said.
Despite the concerns, the Redford government is pushing forward in the legislature with the two sets of new workplace penalties.
Administrative penalties — spelled out in Bill 6, the Protections and Compliance Statutes Amendment Act — will apply mostly to employers who break the law, and will allow for penalties of up to $10,000.
"There've been discussions with various employers' groups on this," Human Services Minister Dave Hancock said Wednesday, adding it's "normal" to have some opposition to new penalties.
The government's second move on workplace safety fines will be through a ticketing system, to be brought into force through regulations next year. It will allow for both workers and owners to be ticketed to the tune of hundreds of dollars, he explained.
"They're basically something that will sting a little if it goes to a worker, but it's not devastating," Hancock said.
But the ticketing plan is being panned by groups representing workers, who call it a "blame-the-victim" approach.
"At the end of the day, workplace safety is primarily the responsibility of employers and government, as regulator," said Gil McGowan, president of the Alberta Federation of Labour.
McGowan noted that, in court, companies can be hit with a fine as high as $500,000 for a first offence. He's concerned the administrative penalties, which top out at $10,000, will replace full legal prosecutions against companies that break the law.
Not all businesses are opposed to the new administrative penalties.
"Right now there are employers in the province of Alberta who are not taking safety seriously," said Dave Fennell, senior safety adviser for Imperial Oil Resources, noting there was one week last month when five Alberta workers died on separate job sites.
"Just like any other law in the province, you need to be held accountable," Fennell said. "If the administrative fines are a way of making these employers accountable, then we are supportive of that."
The Wildrose party wants the proceeds of such workplace fines to be put into a dedicated safety fund, instead of flowing into general government revenues.
The NDP and Alberta Liberals say although they generally support the government's push for tougher penalties, one issue that remains outstanding is the lack of coverage for paid farm workers under the province's Occupational Health and Safety Act and the Workers' Compensation Act.
Under questioning from the opposition, the Tory government said Wednesday it's still working on a response to a report completed last February from the Farm Safety Advisory council, a government-appointed group that's made recommendations on improving the industry's safety record.
Calgary Herald, Thurs Nov 1 2012
Byline: Kelly Cryderman
Unions call for public inquiry to restore consumer confidence in beef supply chain
BROOKS, Alta. — Alberta's labour movement wants a public inquiry into what went wrong at XL Foods' beef plant in Brooks.
It was closed after E. coli contamination was found in meat processed more than a month ago.
"Confidence in the Alberta beef brand has been shaken, confidence in our industry has been shaken, our customers, especially in our largest market in the United States, wonder if they can trust our product," said Gil McGowan, president of the Alberta Federation of Labour.
"That has profound long-term implications for the health of this industry and all the jobs it creates," he said at an Oct. 18 news conference in Brooks.
AFI and the United Food and Commercial Workers said food inspection should be transferred from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to Health Canada because it is a public health matter.
The inquiry should also determine if the agency can do its job properly as the federal government further cuts its budget by more than $50 million.
JBS USA has agreed to manage the plant, and the union is confident it can work with the new company.
"We are hopeful JBS will come in here with an open mind and do what is best for the workers and the industry," said local 401 UFCW president Doug O'Halloran, who represents 2,200 employees at the XL plant in Brooks.
"They've got to make a dollar. We know that, but it can't be at the risk of food safety," he said in an interview.
"XL has not done a good job. Nilsson brothers, I believe, didn't know 50 percent of what was going on in that plant or else they couldn't allow these things to happen," he said in reference to company owners Brian and Lee Nilsson.
He claims upper management dismissed concerns from food inspectors, and O'Halloran said those people should be removed once JBS is installed.
Food safety training and upgrades on hazard analysis critical control points was done, but skills need to be upgraded regularly, he added.
"There is never enough training and never enough food safety training in these plants. The priority is production, the priority is getting as many cattle processed as you can, it is not on quality," O'Halloran said.
The CFIA said a change in management or ownership would not influence its decision to reopen the plant.
"This development will not affect our assessment. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency's top priority is consumer safety so this facility's operating licence will not be renewed until we are completely satisfied that this plant can produce safe food," said Paul Mayers, associate vice-president for CFIA programs.
The union expressed doubt about the competency of CFIA inspectors, but Mayers said XL staff should have come forward if they had solid evidence. No one did, he added.
"I would like to assure all Canadians our inspectors are professional and do their job diligently. Our job is food safety," said Mayers.
"We remain open to working with any staff to improve food safety. This is why we have reached out to the union several times," he said.
Officials from JBS USA met with XL staff Oct. 22, and industrial relations staff met with the union Oct. 23.
JBS said it would honour the current labour contract, which expires at the end of 2013.
About 2,200 people received layoff notices last week, but JBS indicated they would all be called back to work.
The Western Producer, Oct 26 2012
Byline; Barbara Duckworth
Unions call for public inquiry to restore consumer confidence in beef supply chain
BROOKS, Alta. — Alberta's labour movement wants a public inquiry into what went wrong at XL Foods' beef plant in Brooks.
It was closed after E. coli contamination was found in meat processed more than a month ago.
"Confidence in the Alberta beef brand has been shaken, confidence in our industry has been shaken, our customers, especially in our largest market in the United States, wonder if they can trust our product," said Gil McGowan, president of the Alberta Federation of Labour.
"That has profound long-term implications for the health of this industry and all the jobs it creates," he said at an Oct. 18 news conference in Brooks.
AFI and the United Food and Commercial Workers said food inspection should be transferred from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to Health Canada because it is a public health matter.
The inquiry should also determine if the agency can do its job properly as the federal government further cuts its budget by more than $50 million.
JBS USA has agreed to manage the plant, and the union is confident it can work with the new company.
"We are hopeful JBS will come in here with an open mind and do what is best for the workers and the industry," said local 401 UFCW president Doug O'Halloran, who represents 2,200 employees at the XL plant in Brooks.
"They've got to make a dollar. We know that, but it can't be at the risk of food safety," he said in an interview.
"XL has not done a good job. Nilsson brothers, I believe, didn't know 50 percent of what was going on in that plant or else they couldn't allow these things to happen," he said in reference to company owners Brian and Lee Nilsson.
He claims upper management dismissed concerns from food inspectors, and O'Halloran said those people should be removed once JBS is installed.
Food safety training and upgrades on hazard analysis critical control points was done, but skills need to be upgraded regularly, he added.
"There is never enough training and never enough food safety training in these plants. The priority is production, the priority is getting as many cattle processed as you can, it is not on quality," O'Halloran said.
The CFIA said a change in management or ownership would not influence its decision to reopen the plant.
"This development will not affect our assessment. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency's top priority is consumer safety so this facility's operating licence will not be renewed until we are completely satisfied that this plant can produce safe food," said Paul Mayers, associate vice-president for CFIA programs.
The union expressed doubt about the competency of CFIA inspectors, but Mayers said XL staff should have come forward if they had solid evidence. No one did, he added.
"I would like to assure all Canadians our inspectors are professional and do their job diligently. Our job is food safety," said Mayers.
"We remain open to working with any staff to improve food safety. This is why we have reached out to the union several times," he said.
Officials from JBS USA met with XL staff Oct. 22, and industrial relations staff met with the union Oct. 23.
JBS said it would honour the current labour contract, which expires at the end of 2013.
About 2,200 people received layoff notices last week, but JBS indicated they would all be called back to work.
Western Producer, Friday Oct 26 2012
Byline: Barbara Duckworth
Five work-related deaths in five days has Alberta Federation of Labour speaking out
It's been a sad week for workplace accidents in Alberta.
Five workers have died in as many days, in unrelated accidents.
The first accident happened Monday and involved a man who was on a scaffold, which rolled into a hole on a work site near Wainwright.
There were three deaths on Wednesday and a fifth on Friday, one involving a 19-year-old man who was killed after a ramp fell on him at a site near Conklin.
According to Gil McGowan, the President of the Federation of Labour, the government talks a good game in workplace safety but doesn't put their money where their mouth is.
"For years Alberta has had the second-highest rate of workplace fatalities in the country and we do have a very fast-paced labour market and economy," he said. "But even given that history, five deaths in one week is virtually unprecedented and for us in the labour movement, it really raises a red flag."
McGowan adds Alberta still has fewer workplace health and safety inspectors than virtually any other province per worker and is pushing for more since we have more workers in dangerous occupations than other provinces.
"We also have a government that is very, very reluctant to prosecute employers who break the rules and put their workers at risk," he said. "A lot of employers unfortunately think that there aren't that serious consequences for breaking the law when it comes to workplace safety and that needs to change."
No work will be completed on the sites as the deaths of the five workers are being investigated.
660 News, Sat Oct 20 2012
Byline: Megan Robinson and Chris Bowen
Five dead this week in workplace accidents around Alberta
EDMONTON - Five people are dead in as many days after a spate of workplace accidents around the province this week.
Occupational Health and Safety spokesman Brookes Merritt said the incidents are not related but appear to be "a tragic coincidence."
Alberta Federation of Labour president Gil McGowan said the number of workplace deaths is deeply troubling.
"Five fatalities in a week, even in a face-paced economy like this, is almost unprecedented, and certainly unacceptable," he said. "It demonstrates there is still a lot of work to be done."
Merritt said the first fatality happened Monday and involved a 56-year-old man who was on a scaffold that rolled into a 1.2-metre hole on a work site near Wainwright. Merritt said the worker was ejected from the scaffold, hit his head during the fall and was taken to hospital by air ambulance. The man died on Thursday morning.
On Wednesday afternoon, a man fuelling a forklift at Mo Tires in Lethbridge was pinned between the vehicle and a shed. He was pronounced dead in hospital.
A third worker died about 10 a.m. Thursday after falling inside a chimney stack at the Battle River power plant southeast of Edmonton. He died at the scene.
Later that day, around 1:30 p.m., a 19-year-old man died after a ramp fell on him at the Blackgold oilfield site near Conklin.
A fifth worker was killed at about 4:45 a.m. Friday at a work site 25 kilometres south of Grande Prairie. In that case, a 29-year-old man died after being crushed between a piece of heavy machinery and a tank.
"Any time we see a fatality at the workplace it's tragic," Merritt said. "Investigating this number of fatalities in such a short period of time is equally tragic, if not more so."
Merritt said investigators are also looking into a case where three workers were injured at a site northwest of Edson on Thursday morning. The three were hit by a disconnected snubbing hose and were taken to hospital, one by air ambulance, with undisclosed injuries.
Stop-work orders have been issued at all of the sites, and investigators are looking into what happened in each case.
"Our Occupational Health and Safety investigators are determined to investigate each incident rigorously and ensure that the results of this investigations help us learn how to prevent similar incidents in the future," Merritt said.
McGowan said the deaths should be a "red waving flag" for government and industry, showing that the issue of workplace injury and death is still not being properly addressed.
He said the deaths underline a need to increase the number of workplace safety inspectors in the province, which he said still lags behind other provinces.
With about 20 per cent of the province's population working in high-risk industries such as construction and the oilfield — more than double the percentage in most other provinces — McGowan said Alberta should also have a greater than average number of inspectors.
"We hear a lot of rhetoric from the government and employers, but neither group seems to be putting its money where its mouth is," he said. "The death toll continues to mount."
Human Services Minister Dave Hancock was not available for comment on Friday.
There have been 103 work-related fatalities in Alberta this year; 37 workplace fatalities, 28 motor vehicle accidents, and 38 from occupational diseases. There were 43 deaths from workplace fatalities and 28 from motor vehicle accidents in 2011.
Merritt said there are currently 122 OHS investigators in the province, and there will be 132 by the beginning of 2013, an increase of 30 officers from 2009.
"The department is continuously looking at how best to use its resources to achieve its ultimate goal — to have no workplace injuries or fatalities in the province," he said.
Edmonton and District Labour Council president Brian Henderson called the week's deaths "horrible."
"When we have this many fatalities in one week, it just further elaborates how much workplace safety needs to be given priority with this government," he said.
Henderson said in addition to more investigators he wants to see stiffer penalties for companies found guilty of workplace health and safety violations.
"It's not just finding an employer guilty and giving them a fine ...," he said. "With five (deaths) alone this week, what is really being done out there?"
Jeff Wilson, Human Services critic for the Wildrose Party, said he, too, thinks government should do more to support workplace safety, including by further increasing investigators and identifying high-risk employers.
"The strength of our economy rests on workers being safe and secure in our workforce, and we have to do what we can to make sure they get home safe every night," he said.
The Edmonton Journal, Friday Oct 19 2012
Byline: Jana E. Prudent
AFL renews call for public inquiry into contaminated meat
New ownership not enough to restore confidence in 'Alberta's brand'
Brooks, AB – The Alberta Federation of Labour and United Food and Commercial Workers are calling on Premier Alison Redford to stand up for a key Alberta industry by conducting an independent public inquiry.
In a public letter sent to the Premier on Thursday, October 18, AFL president Gil McGowan and UFCW Local 401 president Doug O'Halloran explained the reasons a public inquiry into the causes of the E.Coli outbreak at the Lakeside plant in Brooks would be in the best interest of consumers, the cattle industry and of Albertans.
"Only a public inquiry can ask the right questions," McGowan and O'Halloran said. "Are meat processing facilities being allowed to police themselves? Are federal cuts and changes to CFIA mandates leading to food safety crises? Is there adequate training and whistle-blower protection for workers?"
In the letter, the union says an independent inquiry needs to investigate the level of authority, autonomy and mandate of Canadian Food Inspection Agency employees, as well as examining line speeds, update reporting policies and implement effective food safety precautions.
The cattle industry employs more than 20,000 Albertans and accounts for more than $11.6 billion of the provincial economy. McGowan notes that recent change in management at the Lakeside plant does not resolve the ongoing problems in the cattle industry.
"The results of Canada's system of self-regulation have already been criticized by American inspectors," McGowan and O'Halloran said. "Over the last decade, several USDA inspections have flagged problems with beef processing plants in Alberta."
The meat packing industry in Canada has been dominated by large, multinational players for some time; the entrance of Brazilian-owned JBS USA solidifies that trend. Given their market dominance, these companies are often considered "too big to fail."
"Workers, government and business leaders share an ethical responsibility to ensure the safety of Canadian consumers," McGowan and O'Halloran said. "The independence and thoroughness of such an inquiry would be valuable in restoring public confidence in the safety and cleanliness of Canadian beef, both at home and abroad."
-30-
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Gil McGowan, AFL President at 780.218-9888
Doug O'Halloran, UFCW 401 President at 403.861-2000