Olymel slaughterhouse to close May 25

Quebec's largest pork slaughterhouseis set toclose May 25, 2007, after employees at the Valle-Jonction plant rejected the company's final concession package that would have saved the factory.

But the union representing some 1,100 workers at the Olymel plant in the Beauce region still harbours hope it can protect the slaughterhouse from closure.

More than 97 per cent of workers voted against management's final offer Tuesday in a nailbiting vote that many feared would seal the town's fate.

The slaughterhouse is Valle-Jonction's biggest employer.

Olymel's revised concessions amounted to a sacrifice workers aren't willing to make, said Jean Lortie, president of the commerce sector of Quebec's union federation, the Confdration des syndicats nationaux (CSN).But workers still want to find another compromise.

"We want to send a message to the boss of Olymel. We want to negotiate. We want to say we know you have problems. We also have problems. Can we sit down?" he said.

It was the second andfinal set of concessions tabled by Olymel, which was seeking to cut labour costs at the slaughterhouse in a bid to turn the plant's fortunes around.

The slaughterhouse lost an estimated $50 million in the last three years, according to company figures. Olymel asked workers to accept a pay cut that would have dropped the average worker's hourly wage from $28.43 to $22.28, including social benefits.

Olymel negotiator and former PQ premier Lucien Bouchard said the company is now done with the union. "We clearly said this proposition was final."

Olymel is now ready to take the next step. "The board had a meeting, and decided to adopt the recommendation to close," said spokesman Richard Vigneault.

The Quebec labour code requires four weeks of lead time before a company can shut down in this kind of situation. That means Olymel will close as early as May 25.

The company said it is considering moving operations to Red Deer, Alta. Olymel already runs pork processing facilities in the western province.

The union said it will seek a meeting with Olymel shareholder COOP Fdre du Qubec in the next month to try to convinceit to give the slaughterhouse another chance.

The COOP Fdre owns about 60 per cent of Olymel.