Beef moves too fast at XL plant, cleanliness suffers: union

BROOKS, AB (NEWS1130) – The union for workers at an Alberta meat packer shut down over E. coli concerns says the pace of slaughter operations forces workers to take shortcuts around cleanliness and puts the health of beef-eating Canadians at risk.

Doug O’Halloran, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 401, says the processing line at the XL Foods plant in Brooks moves too quickly and he wants to see a public inquiry into the problems that led to the plant’s shutdown.

O’Halloran says that between 300 and 320 carcasses go by workers every hour and employees make between 3,000 and 4,000 cuts a shift. That has resulted in less time in which to make sure knives are sanitized after each cut.

“It’s just not enough time,” O’Halloran believes. “We are calling on Lakeside to take it seriously. You can replace all the aluminium, all the stainless steel you want at the plant, but if you don’t give your workers the tools to perform the job properly, we’re not going to solve this problem.”

O’Halloran also cited other examples of poor hygiene at the plant. He says cattle are supposed to be washed before they enter to ensure their fur is free of manure. But sometimes the water is not hot enough to get off all the excrement.

He also says excrement from the cattle has backed up on the killing floor at times and forced workers to traipse through the waste and track it through the plant.

O’Halloran believes the plant’s increasing reliance on temporary foreign workers is also a problem, adding the company has not worked with the union to ensure the workers are properly trained and know what their rights are.

“Lakeside, you’ve got one chance to get this correct,” he stresses. “We understand you’re spending lots of money, but you’re still not listening to the people who are the most important in your food safety — the workers who are doing the job.”

There were about 80 front-line workers from the plant packed into the media conference room at a Brooks hotel. Most refused to comment, saying their English was poor or they were fearful of getting into trouble.

Earlier this week, co-CEO Brian Nilsson issued a statement saying the company had fixed the problems that forced food safety officials to shut down the plant. He expressed regret over “the illnesses caused by the consumption of beef products.”

Inspectors with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency were at the plant yesterday for what was termed a “pre-inspection.” A report from that visit was being reviewed today.

To date, 12 people in four provinces, including one person from Vancouver Island, have been infected by a strain of E. coli that has been linked to the plant.