Cargill Responds to Our Call with Pay Increases and Bonus

We are pleased to advise that, in response to our letters to Cargill of March 20, 2020, we have received correspondence from the company outlining some key improvements for the 2,200 UFCW Local 401 members working at Cargill beef processing facilities in Calgary and High River.

Cargill’s letter to President Hesse is available to download here, but here are some of the highlights:

Pay increase and bonus

• “Employees who work every hour of their scheduled shift each week, will receive an additional $2.00 per hour for the hours worked. This will be effective from March 23, 2020 to May 5, 2020.”
• “Employees who complete their scheduled weekly shift for the next eight (8) consecutive weeks as of March 23, 2020, will receive a one-time net $500 bonus. Time off for pre-scheduled vacation and absences related to COVID-19 are excluded.”

Time off with pay for COVID-19 reasons

• “Employees that must be absent for COVID-19 reasons are eligible to receive their regular pay up to a period of 14 calendar days (80 hours) for time off due to COVID-19. This includes time off for childcare concerns, assuming that all options have been exhausted.”

Safety improvements

• Suspension of attendance discipline for reasons related to COVID-19
• Social distancing in plants, including adjusting break times and changing table configurations so employees are facing forward and not across from each other
• Increased sanitation in common areas, including break rooms, handrails, restrooms

Posted on: March 23,2020