By Gil McGowan, AFL Staff

The United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) have failed in their bid to organize workers at the Lakeside meat-packing plant in Brooks, Alberta – but union leaders say they have not given up the fight.

In a vote conducted at the plant on July 22 and 23, only about 30 per cent of the eligible workers voted to join the union – UFCW local 401.

Union president Doug O’Halloran admitted that he was disappointed with the results, but he says he has no intention of walking away from Brooks or the hundreds of workers at the plant who voted for the union.

"This was a setback, there’s no doubt about that," said O’Halloran. "But there is still a strong base of support for the union within the plant. It’s something we can build on in the future."

Lakeside is owned by American-based IBP Inc. – one of the largest and most profitable meat packing corporations in North America. The plant employs more than 2,000 people.

The vote was the culmination of a year-long organizing drive that was marred by legal clashes between the union and anti-union managers at the plant.

Problems started in the early spring, shortly after UFCW successfully signed up more than 40 percent of Lakeside workers. This is the threshold that needs to reached under Alberta law before a formal certification vote can be held.

An original certification vote was held in April, but the results were discarded after the Alberta Labour Relations Board (LRB) ruled that Lakeside management had undermined the election process by showing employees a video that contained false and misleading statements about unions. The LRB also ruled the company had failed to allow the union fair access to the employees.

In an unusual move, the LRB ordered the company to grant the union access to employees the day before a second, board-supervised vote.

In accordance with this order, six meetings were held at the Lakeside plant on July 21. During these meetings, three representatives from the union – O’Halloran, veteran UFCW organizer Archie Duckworth and a representative from the AFL – talked to groups of between 200 and 300 workers about the benefits of joining a union.

The meetings were supervised by two officers from the LRB and several RCMP constables. Despite this, several of the meetings were disrupted by vocal anti-union employees and lower-level managers who shouted obscenities and hurled objects – including eggs and waded balls of paper – at the representatives from the union and the LRB.

On one occasion death threats were made against a union organizer and in another instance, pro-union employees were threatened by an anti-union employee who dared them to "show their faces."

Many of the vocal anti-union employees attended more than one meetings – even though they were supposed to go back to work after hearing the union presentation once.

"The meetings had a menacing feel to them. There’s no doubt that many workers who support the union felt intimidated," said O’Halloran. "That’s why I’m confident that we will eventually win. The obstacle is not the will of the workers. The real obstacles are Alberta’s labour law and the hostility of this particular employer."

The Brooks organizing drive was coordinated by UFCW 401, but it received substantial support from the international union as well – in terms for money and trained organizing staff. Despite the certification defeat, representatives from the international say they will continue to support 401’s organizing efforts.

"This is a high priority for us," says Tom Hesse, assistant to UFCW’s Canadian president.

"These workers work in one of the most dangerous industries imaginable and they are not treated well. The turn-over rate at Lakeside is almost 400 employees per week. Clearly these are people who could benefit from the kind of protection that unions provide. That’s what we’ve been saying all along – and it’s not just talk. We’re willing to put our money where our mouth is."