Last month, Local 401 of the United Food and Commercial workers published an update on their website regarding contract negotiations for workers employed in a Calgary chicken slaughterhouse.
The more than 400 workers are employed by Sofina Foods at their Lilydale south plant. They include workers in a variety of positions, including slaughter, saw operators, scale operators, truck and crate washers, inventory clerks, utility persons, lifters, assemblers, tub washers, first-aid, sanitation, freezer, fork lift operators, truck drivers, power engineers, electricians, millwrights, and mechanics.
Their last collective agreement expired in April 2025, over a year ago. Bargaining on the replacement agreement began this past October.
Based out of Ontario, Sofina Foods is a meat processing company with locations throughout Canada, including in Edmonton and Calgary. It was founded by its current chair and CEO, Michael Latifi, who has used the labour of his workers to amass over $3.5 billion in net worth.
In last month’s update, Local 401 claimed that the bargaining team for the workers had reached a tentative agreement with Sofina Foods for the workers to vote on.
This is the second tentative agreement the bargaining team has presented to the workers this year.
Back in February, with 90% of eligible workers participating, workers voted 99% to reject the first offer, forcing Sofina back to the bargaining table.
According to last month’s update, the proposed collective agreement would be for 6 years, expiring in April 2031, if passed.
It includes proposed wage increases in every year of the agreement:
| 3 April 2025* | $0.90 |
| 3 April 2026* | $0.70 |
| 3 April 2027 | $0.60 |
| 3 April 2028 | $0.60 |
| 3 April 2029 | $0.60 |
| 3 April 2030 | $0.75 |
| $4.15 |
Because the wage increases are in absolute numbers, the percentage increase over the course of the contract differs by positions, ranging from 10.13% to 20.80%, or an annual average of between 1.69% and 3.47%.
In their last collective agreement, which also lasted for 6 years, they received annual wage increases ranging from 35¢ to 55¢ and totalling a combined $2.60 over the course of the collective agreement.
The new wage offer also differs from what they offered back in February, and which the workers strongly rejected. They had offered a combined increase of only $2.90 over 5 years—only marginally better than their last collective agreement. Clearly not enough for the workers, however.
Sofina’s new proposed wage structure averages 69¢ a year, while their February offer came to 58¢ a year on average.
In addition to wages, Sofina has offered to increase the annual vision benefit by $25, from $250 to $275. It will still be for 24 months.
They have also offered a new pay premium for maintenance workers who hold at least two trades tickets. If the agreement is ratified, these workers would get an extra $1 an hour per ticket required and used in the plant.
As well, there would be a new training premium of 50¢ an hour for anyone asked by their supervisor or manager to train a new or existing worker.
Sofina also agreed to implement a new 4-year apprenticeship training programme.
The bargaining committee held an information session this past Monday, and in-person voting occurred yesterday. Online voting began yesterday and will end at 14:00 today.
