Olymel slaughterhouse workers refuse concessions

More than 1,000 employees at an Olymel slaughterhouse in Quebec's Beauce region rejected a concession package Tuesday that could have saved their jobs.

Some 1,100 workers at the Olymel pork processing plant in Valle-Jonction voted 97 per cent against the concessions that included a $50 pay cut per week and reduced benefits.

Union president Jean Lortie said concessions on the table would have cost each worker about $12,000 a year.

Employees are represented by the Quebec union Confdration des syndicats nationaux (CSN).

The company asked the union for concessionsto reduce labour costs by a projected 27 per cent,in order to offset the factory's losses, estimated at $50 million in the last three years.

Olymel threatened to shut down the plant and move operations to Red Deer, Alta., if employees refused to bend to its demands.

The union already turned down an earlier concession package that would have cost workers more than $100 a week.

Before going into the vote Tuesday afternoon, union officials were skeptical about the revised concession package.

It's not clear whether the new concession offer will be more palatable to workers, said Gino Provencher, the CSNunion's president.

'Far from what we expected': CSN president

"Despite some modifications, the second global offer is far from what we expected," said Provencher, in a statement issued Tuesday morning.

"It's a sure thing that we're ready to sacrifice something. But not as much as the company is asking," said plant worker Daniel Lortie, in a French interview with CBC hours before thevote.

The factory, located about 60 kilometres south of Quebec City, is the main employer in the region.

Olymel President Rjean Nadeau said he wanted to keep the plant in the Beauce, but only if a compromise was reached to help the company offset its losses.

The chief negotiator for Olymel, former Parti Qubcois premier Lucien Bouchard, had hoped workers would weigh their options carefully.

"It would be a real shame if 1,100 jobs, and a factory with this kind of potential and importance for the region be forced to close because of a $50 pay cut."

The plant could now close as early as July 2007.

About 60 per cent of pork processed in Quebec is handled by Olymel. The company employs more than 11,000 workers in Quebec, Ontario and Alberta. About half of its products are exported to the U.S., Japan and Australia.