The latest stories on the pandemic’s impact on the food industry
Canada’s food processing industry has become among the most dangerous places to work during the pandemic. Food production workers need your support.
Essential but expendable: How Canada failed migrant farm workers
Source: The Globe and Mail
June 16 2020 - Lax oversight, poor communication and cramped, dirty conditions have left migrant farm workers across Canada vulnerable to COVID-19
Grocery executives may be called to testify on pay cuts for workers
Source: The Globe and Mail
June 15 2020 - An MP from the governing Liberal Party is proposing a parliamentary committee summon major Canadian grocery company executives to explain why they’re cutting COVID-19 pay premiums for workers.
Alberta reports one more COVID-19 death, 20 new cases
Source: CBC News
June 15 2020 - With 175 active cases, Edmonton zone total now approaching that of Calgary.
For Quebec's migrant farm workers, need to earn a living trumps fears over COVID-19
Source: CBC News
June 15 2020 - Less than half the temporary foreign workers expected for June in Quebec have arrived.
Quebec farm advised to use more 'stable' workforce after COVID-19 outbreak
Source: CTV News
Montreal, June 12 2020 - A COVID-19 outbreak among temporary foreign workers and other employees of a Quebec agricultural company has raised concerns about health risks when farm workers move between multiple work sites.
Second migrant farm worker dies from COVID-19
Source: Windsor Star
June 6 2020 - A second migrant farm worker in Windsor/Essex County — and the youngest person to succumb locally to the coronavirus — has died due to COVID-19.
Temporary foreign worker dies due to COVID-19 as disease hits southwestern Ontario farms hard
Source: CBC News
June 1 2020 - A 31-year-old farm worker from Mexico has died due to the disease
A temporary foreign worker from Mexico who came to Canada to work on a farm in Ontario died on Saturday due to COVID-19, as farms in the southwestern part of the province become a major driver for a spike in new cases.
Mourning family of Cargill COVID-19 death feel left behind by company
Source: CBC News
May 24, 2020 - Benito Quesada, 51, remembered as a hardworking family man who loved to make his kids smile
Two weeks ago, the union that represents the workers at the Cargill slaughterhouse near High River, Alta., announced that a third death had been linked to the facility: a 51-year-old union shop steward named Benito Quesada.
40 CFIA meat plant inspectors, including 21 in Alberta, test positive for COVID-19: Union
Source: Global News
May 14, 2020 - Forty meat plant inspectors with the CFIA, including 21 working in Alberta facilities, have tested positive for the novel coronavirus according to the union representing the inspectors.
Agriculture Union president Fabian Murphy told Global News on Wednesday that since the middle of April, cases among food inspectors have been steadily rising.
Calls continue for Cargill beef plant closure
Source: The Western Producer
May 13, 2020 - Alberta’s NDP opposition continues to call for the closure of the Cargill meat processing plant in High River, Alta., saying it has failed to keep its workers safe from infection by COVID-19.
Labour critic Christina Gray said Cargill must close until it meets legal requirements to engage workers on safety.