Union surprised by XL Foods layoff notice in Alberta
The head of the union representing workers at the Alberta-based XL Foods meat processing plant at the centre of an international beef recall because of E. coli contamination said he was surprised by the company's announcement Saturday that it will be temporarily laying off roughly 2,000 workers.
"I thought we were back on track," said Doug O'Halloran, president of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 401.
"The CFIA was saying how everything was good and ... [one of the owners], a Nilsson brother, was in the paper there saying, 'You know, it's going to be business as usual, we've got everything done,' what have you. We were expecting that if they didn't start killing up to full production they might have a few layoffs, but there was no way we anticipated that we'd have everybody laid off."
The plant, located in Brooks in southern Alberta, employs roughly 2,200 workers.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/story/2012/10/13/calgary-xl-foods-layoffs.html
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/edmonton/Foods+owners+have+stayed+public+spotlight/7384304/story.html
