This summer’s Chez Olymel labor dispute is having an impact on Quebec pork farmers again, and due to the holiday season, the number of pigs awaiting slaughter could reach a record high.
Quebec pork producers believed that with the resumption of activities at Olymel, they would catch their breath, but three months after the end of the labor dispute the consequences are still being felt.
In fact, breeders predict that they will have 200,000 pigs awaiting slaughter in January.
“There are producers who are still really caught by the throat even today,” lamented Louis-Philippe Roy, second vice-president of Quebec pig breeders.
This is particularly the case with producer Jean-Yves Gauthier of Ferme René Gauthier, who has 800 pigs on standby and who is afraid of seeing the number jump even further: “Sometimes the slaughterer will take what we produce, sometimes she will take it. not take … if she does not take any, well I go back to 400 suddenly ”.
The slaughter rate did not reach expectations despite the return of workers to the plant. Piglet sales were also less good. To date, the number of pigs that should have been slaughtered stands at 130,000 in Quebec. The record was set this summer during the conflict at 180,000 animals.
Statutory holidays during the holiday season could complicate operations. “It’s almost a week of slaughter that we’re going to lose in the holiday season, so it’s sure that after the holidays it will be complicated. We will have to put emphasis on the flow plan, take out more pork to lower the pressure, ”said Louis-Philippe Roy.
Several measures have been put in place by the association and by the Olymel company.
“After the strike, we put in place sales solutions, which have relatively, nonetheless, worked well, but it is sure that there were problems with producers. We had to manage emergencies, ”he added.
On the Olymel side, the company turned to other slaughter plants in the province, in Canada, then in the United States. Management also asked workers to work overtime on weekends in order to increase slaughter capacity.