Volume Nine, Number Two    April 2004    www.columbiajournal.ca

Union Asks for Compensation for Workers, Farmers Hit by Avian Flu

Marco Procaccini

Union packing house and agricultural workers in the lower mainland are asking the federal government to relax the restrictions for Employment Insurance benefits for workers affected by the Avian Flu disaster, and is also calling for aid for farmers.

The United Food and Commercial Workers, whose members work in poultry processing plants and coups, have been experiencing layoffs as a result of the crippling effects of the disease.

Over one thousand UFCW members work in the lower mainland poultry industry. But the union is requesting that all union and non-union workers be exempt from the two-week waiting period for EI benefits and is also asking the provincial government to make sure anyone who is laid off has their basic medical insurance coverage continued. About 200 workers are facing layoffs.

“Both employers and our union have been working hard to come up with innovative approaches to keep as many of our members working as possible for as long as possible,” says Local 1518 President Brooke Sundin. “But everyone understands that unless the processors can import bulk whole birds from outside the province, soon there will simply be no chickens left to process and layoffs will have to come. In response to this the employers, Lilydale and Sunrise have agreed to consider temporary language changes in the collective agreements to help ease the impact upon our members.”

Health authorities have ordered the destruction of over 19 million chickens and other fowl in an effort to contain the spread of the Avian disease first appeared at poultry farms in Abbotsford late last month. However, new cases of the disease have recently been reported as far away as 32 kilometers from the Abbotsford area—which health officials have termed the “hot zone.”

Labour groups have also requested both levels of gov-ernment provide emergency aid to small poultry producers, many who are fearing bankruptcy due to the crisis.

“We don’t believe that these requests of the two levels of government are onerous,” says Sundin. “In the case of EI, we are only asking the government to give these members access to money that they and their employers have already paid into the EI system two weeks earlier than they would normally have to wait.”

So far, the governments have not responded to the requests.

Meanwhile, the disposal of the culled chickens contin-ues to raise controversy. Residents of Cache Creek, 100 Km north of Vancouver, are continuing their blockade of their local landfill site, where the provincial government wants to dump the remains. Liberal Agriculture Minister John van Dongen says the government may be reconsidering its plan.

Members of the Bonaparte Native Band, who are lead-ing the blockade, say the Liberal regime has already done enough damage to the local community through its auster-ity measures and public service cuts. “We don’t need this,” said Ashcroft Band councilor Bert Kirkpatrick, adding that they are ready to risk mass arrests if necessary.

The picketers have the support of Cache Creek Mayor John Ranta and Union of BC Indians Chiefs leaders Stewart Phillip, who calls the idea “bone-headed” that the bodies of infected fowl are being transported such a long way through numerous agricultural zones, threatening to spread the disease there.

Ranta referred to Liberal Premier Gordon Campbell as a “chicken” for refusing to guarantee the landfill would not be used as a dumping ground for the infested carcasses.

Culled birds are also being sent to the incineration facil-ity in south Burnaby. However, concerns are being raised that it cannot handle such a huge volume of birds in such a short time.

But the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, which is in charge of the mass slaughter, insists things are going ahead as planned. It also is reminding people that the risk to food safety as a result of the disease is extremely low.

“The food safety risk related to infected birds is con-sidered to be very low,” says the CFIA web site. “Given the rapid onset of clinical signs observed with avian influenza, it is unlikely that any infected birds would have proceeded undetected through the slaughter system.”

However, lower mainland residents are being warned by local egg producers to brace for possible egg shortages as a result of the disease. They say free range, organic and spe-cialty eggs, which have not been affected by the disease, will start becoming harder to find in the next few weeks.