1 million chickens wasted in Quebec slaughterhouse as labour dispute drags on

Quebec's labour minister is hoping to help to enda labour dispute at a slaughterhouse in the Chaudire-Appalaches region, after about a million chickenswereeuthanized.

Minister Jean Boulethas offered to arbitrate negotiations between the Exceldor co-operativeand more than 500 of itsunionized employeeswho work in Saint-Anslme, Que., about 45 minutes south of Quebec City.

The employees have been on strike for more than three weeks, followingmonths of negotiations thatwent nowheredespite the help of a mediator.

The strike has forced producers to send chickens to a rendering planttoprocess them for products other than food. The co-operative estimates the lost chickens would have made for about four million meals.

Exceldorhas saidit is in favour of the minister arbitrating the dispute, but on Wednesday,the union representing workers at the slaughterhouse said it wouldnot accept the minister's offer, sincemediation sessions are scheduled this week.

"If we go in that direction, it'll take away our ability to negotiate," said Jacques Roy, a representative with theUnited Food and Commercial Workers union (UFCW).

This will likely not sit well with the Quebec government.

On Wednesday morning, AndrLamontagne, the province's minister of agriculture, fisheries and food, said it makesno sense for the union to decline the minister's offer.

"As soon as one party accepts arbitration, there is nothing that justifies [that the union] does not accept it," Lamontagne said. "The position that the union should take in front of all of Quebec is to accept arbitration and put an end to the waste."

The province's largest farmers'union, the Union des producteurs agricoles (UPA), is also pressuring employees to put an end to the labour dispute.

The slaughterhouse's employeeshave been without a contract since the end of July 2020. Salaries and working conditions are among the main sticking points in negotiations.