An outbreak at Olymel in Red Deer that began in November has finally shut down operations temporarily after weeks of pressure from UFCW local 451. Concerns over Olymel’s operations ignited further when one employee died due to coronavirus on Janaury 20, 2021.

The President of the Union Thomas Hesse wrote a letter Olymel Plant Manager Rob Ackerblade on February 13th imploring him to cease operations.

“I suppose some in your company might want to shrug this off and dismiss it and put the pigs ahead of the people. Business first, they might say. The union is just being inflammatory, they might assert… We cannot let the arrogance of the production imperative override the very valid sentiments of real human beings. People must be put ahead of pigs,” the letter read.

The letter notes that in a correspondence between the Ackerblade and the Olymel employees noting a risk assessment that states that one in five workers at the plant may be infected with 60 per cent of Olymel staff holding at least one other job. However, AHS maintains that Olymel has continued to follow provincial restrictions throughout the pandemic. 

"Early on in the COVID-19 pandemic Olymel took a number of preventive measures to enhance the safety of employees at the facility, and the site has continued to take proactive steps to enhance their practices and mitigation measures.No violations were noted by AHS during our visits to site, which would have necessitated a closure order. Any recommendations made by AHS for further improvements to existing measures were acted upon swiftly," noted AHS in an emailed statment. 

The Union remains pleased to see the temporary closure of the plant as they readjust protocols to ensure their employee’s safety.

“We are gratified to see the announcement of a closure. We are especially grateful to and celebrate our solidarity with Olymel union members whose leadership in expressing their concerns has undoubtedly led to a resolution that will save lives,” it read in the release.

The union will be dispatching a team to assist the situation to ensure that employees and their members are properly taken care of. While AHS continues to work with the facility to prevent asymptomatic spread. 

"We also continue supporting the Olymel’s efforts to remind staff to adhere to all public health orders, both at work and at home, to help prevent the spread of illness. This include adhering to single-site work orders as appropriate. We have a dedicated CDC team comprised of experienced nurses and contact tracers helping manage the outbreak, and are working with Olymel to arrange for ongoing prevalence testing of employees to monitor for asymptomatic spread," it reads in the AHS statement. 

Since the outbreak, the City of Red Deer and surrounding area has seen a growing number of COVID-19 cases. The City sits at 428 active cases as of February 14, 2021.