Cars sit parked at a Cargill Inc. turkey processing plant on Aug. 4, 2011, in Springdale, Ark. The beef processing industry is heavily consolidated in Alberta, with 70 per cent of Canada’s beef produced at just two plants: Cargill in High River and JBS Foods in Brooks.Jennifer Hyndman is professor at the Centre for Refugee Studies and in the faculty of environmental and urban change at York University.
Up to 20 per cent of workers in food/meat processing are allowed to be TFWs under current federal rules; this number is higher than the 10-per-cent cap applied to other “low-wage” sectors. But the industry maintains it faces a perpetual labour shortage that can only be met by hiring more TFWs and These conditions were brought to light during the COVID-19 pandemic. In Alberta alone, six people – all with immigrant backgrounds – died from COVID-19 in relation to outbreaks at meat-packing facilities. TFWs are particularly vulnerable to “3D” – dirty, difficult, and dangerous – labour conditions as they are tied to one job through employer-specific work permits.
In fact, low wages are a relatively new phenomenon in meat-packing. The decline in wages coincides with the consolidation of the industry and the relocation out of cities into smaller centres and more rural communities. Historically, slaughterhouses were located in urban areas, jobs were characterized by powerful organized labour unions, and workers had wages that were among the highest in manufacturing, with meat packers earning 12 per cent above the manufacturing average.
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