Barring an unexpected turnaround, most of the 123 foreign workers initially recruited by Olymel to work at the Vallée-Jonction slaughterhouse will leave Beauce for another company plant. A scenario that is very disappointing, in a region where labor needs are crying out.
Three months after the announcement of the closure of the slaughterhouse, the MP for Beauce-Nord, Luc Provençal, still hopes that Ottawa will make concessions. But he also believes that the situation would be much simpler if Quebec had full powers in immigration. “If immigration were in the hands of a single government, we could make the process a lot easier,” he remarks.
“In Beauce, the unemployment rate is so low that we have room to relocate these people,” said the elected official.
Of the 994 employees of the Vallée-Jonction slaughterhouse, 123 are foreigners holding a federal permit allowing them to work only at this plant. The majority are French-speaking and come from Mauritius or Madagascar.
When Olymel announced in April that it would be closing its plant, the business community and local elected officials unanimously demanded that Ottawa grant open permits to these workers so that they could stay in the region and earn a living there.
A request that was rejected because the temporary worker program only grants open permits in cases of violence (the “vulnerable worker” component). “The minister told me it was impossible,” said the Duty local MP Richard Lehoux during an interview in June.
In this context, the majority of foreign workers in Vallée-Jonction (87 out of 123) have already accepted Olymel’s offer to be transferred to its plants in Yamachiche (49), in Mauricie, and Ange-Gardien ( 38), in Montérégie. As for the others, they have few options as things stand. The only way for them to stay in Beauce is to convince another employer in the region to take steps to obtain a new closed work permit.
Ironically, Olymel owns a plant in Saint-Henri, 60 kilometers from Vallée-Jonction. However, it is impossible to welcome foreign workers there since they already represent the maximum share of the workforce authorized by Ottawa (30%). According to our information, a large number of Quebec workers from the Vallée-Jonction plant are destined for it.
“No choice” to leave
Aristide Omva is one of the Mauritian workers who will leave Beauce. “I signed the document with the company to be relocated”, because the other possibility would have been too complicated, he says.
Arriving in 2021, he became attached to the region, but believes he has “no choice” to leave. “When we settled somewhere and took our time there, we made friends, we adapted to the environment, it’s not always easy to leave. […] We like it [en Beauce], but on the other hand, if we stay, we risk facing enormous difficulties. So, to avoid that, we have to move a bit to pursue our Canadian dream. »
The duty had difficulty convincing other foreign workers to talk about this situation, most of whom are still employed by Olymel until it closes on December 22.
Mathieu, whose real name we are withholding at his request, is one of those who have been able to obtain permanent residence thanks to their many years of work at Olymel. He agreed to speak to Duty difficulties experienced by foreign workers, but anonymously, so as not to be badly perceived by his employer.
“Some people have just arrived [au Québec]. The change of scenery, they can’t finish it and we change it again, he laments. We love Beauce and Beauce welcomed us perfectly. We have our habits. We want to see our children grow up here, precisely to show them the values that exist in Beauce. »
“When you are recruited in a place, you are told that you will be there all the time. You adapt. And the presence of older Mauritian and Malagasy workers facilitates their integration, he says.
Beauce has also changed a lot in recent years, as was well illustrated by the Festi-cultures held in Sainte-Marie on July 9. Yassa chicken dishes, sale of wax clothes, African music: it is a very multicultural Beauce that is revealed there. One of the organizers, Claude-Hervé Kouassi, says he is working to “create a feeling of belonging to the region”. With others, he also set up the Help Center for Immigrants and Their Families.
The duty toured the many organizations that support workers in the transition. Everyone draws the same conclusion: it’s a shame.
Marlène Bisson, from Développement économique Nouvelle-Beauce, speaks of a “missed opportunity”. “We would have liked them to have a real option and be able to obtain open permits. There have been a lot of efforts made to accommodate these people. It would have been easier for them and helpful for our region. Everyone would have been a winner. »
Marjorie Milliard, of the firm GCRH, which accompanies workers in the transition on behalf of Emploi Québec, considers that the situation is “discouraging”. “Currently, it’s a bit of nothing for these workers. They are at the mercy of government decisions. They wait. […] We would like it to work. Beauce needs it. »
The CSN does not let go
If some are resigned to seeing this workforce leave the region, the Central of National Unions (CSN) still wants to get things moving on the Ottawa side in order to obtain open permits.
“We will never let go of the stick,” says the secretary general of the Central Council of Quebec-Chaudière-Appalaches, François Proulx-Duperré.
The National Assembly, he recalls, unanimously adopted a motion on open permits on May 10. Presented by Québec solidaire, the motion “calls on the federal government to grant an open work permit without delay or to take the necessary measures so that workers and [les] factory temporary foreign workers [Olymel de] Vallée-Jonction can find a job in the region”.
Asked about the motion, a spokesperson for the office of federal Immigration Minister Sean Fraser responded in writing to the Duty “that it was possible for an individual who has a work permit linked to a given employer to change jobs or employers in Canada” by obtaining a new closed work permit. He made no comment on the motion or on the issue of open permits.
Relocate
Meanwhile, Olymel is doing its best to make it easier for workers to move to Yamachiche and Ange-Gardien. The company will provide them with lodgings originally planned for a contingent of North African workers whose arrival has been put on hold, explains the company’s director of human resources, Isabelle Leblond.
However, these are dwellings with two workers per room, which is not suitable for families. For them, the company is already linking up with local partners to help them find a home despite the housing shortage.
“Humanly, we find it very flat, but at the same time, we were happy to be able to offer them a relocation, explains Mme The blond. I can say, having met them several times since the announcement, that they have the same feeling of disappointment and destabilization as all of our employees. The only difference is that they have fewer options for staying in the area. »
However, the director fears that workers are being given false hope by talking about open work permits. His “great fear” is also that workers opt for reassignment at “midnight minus one”, without having done all the necessary administrative procedures.