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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Plant assessment halted after XL Foods layoffs
BROOKS, Alta. -- A beef processing plant at the centre of a massive recall announced the temporary layoff Saturday of approximately 2,000 people.
The XL Foods facility has been idle since Sept. 27, while federal officials and the company deal with E. coli contamination that sparked a recall of its products from across North America. It's been linked to 15 illnesses.
A company news release said its employees have been receiving full pay for the past three weeks, but the temporary layoffs are necessary because the Canadian Food Inspection Agency can't indicate when the plant will get its licence back.
"We have paid our valued team members out of a commitment to our workforce and to assist them through this difficult time," Brian Nilsson, co-CEO of XL, said in the news release.
"XL Foods is committed to the best interests of the cattle industry, our employees, the city of Brooks and all affected by the idling of the Brooks facility. We are hopeful that the CFIA will bring this to a swift and viable resolution."
The CFIA approved a limited reopening but said no meat could leave the facility until it has approved a full reopening.
In a statement late Saturday, the CFIA said it had been overseeing the cutting of carcasses in the plant that had tested negative for E. coli, but it said the company decided to stop operations after cutting only about half the carcasses, and as a result, the agency said it was unable to complete its assessment.
A spokeswoman for Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz said the halt in operations was directly linked to the layoffs.
"Their decision to lay off workers results in them not being able to continue with the CFIA assessment," Meagan Murdoch said in an email.
XL Foods did not immediately respond when asked to comment on the CFIA statement.
The CFIA said it is ready to continue its assessment as soon as the company resumes activities.
"We need to observe the plant's E. coli controls in action, so this activity is a critical element in our assessment of the company's E. coli safeguards," the CFIA statement said. "We recognize that the company wants to return to normal operations as soon as possible, but the CFIA has a responsibility to assure consumers that the plant can produce safe food."
-- The Canadian Press
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition October 14, 2012 A6
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