UFCW president Thomas Hesse is calling for the shutdown of the JBS Canada meat packing plant in Brooks to protect workers safety (submitted photo/UFCW)

By Tiffany Goodwein

Workers scared to go to work, union calling for shutdown of the JBS plant in Brooks

Apr 22, 2020 | 2:34 PM

BROOKS, AB – The union representing workers at the JBS Food Canada meat packing plant in Brooks is calling for the shutdown of the facility.

So far 77 employees have tested positive for the COVID-19 virus, according to the latest figures released by the province.

UFCW Local 401 president Thomas Hesse says a full shutdown of the plant is necessary in order to protect worker safety.

“You cannot stuff hundreds and hundreds of people into a workspace like that and not magnify the risk,” he said.

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The union, which also represents workers at the Cargill meat plant in High River, fears the situation may grow worse if the Brooks plant is kept open any longer.

“It is the same sort of plant with all the same sort of problems. These plants are not designed around social distancing. They are designed around social proximities, so that is principle number one,”

Hesse argued the situation could grow more dire not only for the workers at the plant but for the community of Brooks as a whole, the longer the plant is kept open during the pandemic.

“It is sort of its own Petri dish and we worry that the entire community could be impacted by this. The proximity and social connections between the plant and the community are profound and it is such a small community.”

“Secondly the staff complement. There are bigger numbers at Brooks then there are at Cargill. The staff complement, I’m told at JBS is 2,400 to 2,600 while Cargill is about 2,000 so the numbers are bigger, and because of the isolation of the community there’s sort of nowhere to run nowhere to hide” Hesse said.

And workers’ fears for safety are rampant, according to Hesse.

The union surveyed workers at both the JBS meat packing plant and the Cargill meat plant and found 85 per cent of workers are scared to go to work.

“If they are scared, there must be some validity to there concerns,” Hesse said.

“So we are calling for, number one, that they hit the pause button, shut the place down for two weeks send everybody home. Let them self-isolate for two weeks and that there be an independent group formed from out of province, perhaps led by the federal government or a judge with food safety experts and let there be a worker centered investigation.” Hesse said.

“I just don’t know why we aren’t erring on the side of caution. We have already seen a death at Cargill. Hundreds of workers are not showing up in Brooks. So when is someone going to get it ?”

In the meantime, Hesse said the union is also stressing the importance of the right to refuse unsafe work.

He said there are many factors at play preventing workers from initiating their right to refuse unsafe work, like fears of getting fired or punished within the company.

JBS Canada has said they have taken a number of measures to protect worker safety, including temperature checks prior to entering the building, a ban on all visitors, a requirement for everyone to wear masks and PPE. The company said they have also staggered starts, shifts and breaks and increased spacing in cafeterias, break and locker rooms to instill physical distancing.

The company is also offering temporary leave for vulnerable workers with full pay and benefits.

As of the last update provided on Tuesday afternoon, there are 157 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the City of Brooks, 77 of which are confirmed to be from the JBS meat plant.