The Food Processing Union

The Food Processing Union

UFCW Canada: The Food Processing Union

With over forty years of experience representing tens of thousands of food processing workers at major food companies across the country, the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW Canada) is the food processing union.

As the leading voice of nearly 40,000 food processing workers employed in every aspect of the Canadian food processing industry, from meat processing to dairy and beverage production to flour milling and more, UFCW Canada helps food processing workers gain the union advantage at work.  

Workers in the food processing sector join UFCW Canada because our union empowers members to enhance their workplace and build a better life, with higher wages, comprehensive benefits, fair scheduling, and overtime pay, among many other advantages. We also advocate for food processing workers by ensuring that members that are treated with dignity, fairness, and respect on the job.

Whether you are an industrial meat cutter, a production worker, a millwright, a packaging worker, or a quality assurance specialist, UFCW Canada can help you and your colleagues make work better. That is why more and more food processing workers are choosing to join UFCW Canada, the food processing union, each and every day.

Facts About the Food Processing Industry in Canada

  • Food and beverage processing is Canada’s second-largest manufacturing industry, employing more than 270,000 Canadians who produce 18 percent of the country’s total manufacturing shipments.

  • The food and beverage processing sector contributes $27.1 billion monthly to Canada’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), accounting for the largest share of GDP from the manufacturing industry.

  • 70 percent of all food and beverage products sold in Canada are supplied by our domestic food and beverage processing sector.

  • Manufacturing sales generated by Canada’s food processing sector amount to $80 billion U.S. dollars, and measured in sales, the industry is larger than the Canadian food service sector.

  • The annual revenue of Canada’s food manufacturing industry is roughly $117 billion Canadian dollars and the sector is experiencing consistent, year-over-year growth. Sources located here and here.

 

Why Food Processing Workers Join the Union

Food processing workers join UFCW Canada because our union has a demonstrated track record of negotiating benefits and workplace improvements that help members thrive at work and build a better life. That is why UFCW Canada is the #1 choice for food processing workers from coast to coast.

Choosing the Food Processing Union

Increased line speeds, unaddressed health and safety problems, and a lack of overtime pay are just some of the issues that workers in the food processing industry – particularly those working in non-unionized workplaces – face on a regular basis.

As well, employees at non-union food processing companies typically do not have access to the fair wages, equipment allowances, health and safety protections, and paid leave that food processing workers at unionized businesses have come to expect.

These challenges and disparities can leave food processing employees at non-union companies feeling overworked and taken for granted by their employer. Luckily, there is a clear solution to the problems facing many workers in the food processing sector: joining a union.

By joining UFCW Canada, the food processing union, you and your co-workers can negotiate better working conditions and higher compensation  – advantages that over 250,000 UFCW Canada members currently enjoy, from coast to coast.

Reasons to Join the Food Processing Union

There are many reasons why food processing workers join UFCW Canada, the food processing union. Among them are the safer working conditions, stronger job security, and generous vacation entitlements that UFCW collective agreements guarantee to members.

UFCW Canada members working in the food processing industry are covered by collective agreements that provide signing bonuses, robust health and welfare plans, overtime pay, and a wide range of shift premiums. Additionally, UFCW food processing members have competitive wages and access to training and education opportunities that are free to members and their families.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, UFCW Canada worked with the federal and provincial governments and employers in the food processing industry to secure enhanced health and safety protections for food processing members. We also successfully lobbied for millions of dollars in emergency funding to assist food processing companies in accessing more protective equipment, adapting to health protocols, and responding to emerging pressures from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Our union further negotiated premium pay increases for food processing members working through the coronavirus crisis, and we launched multiple campaigns in support of frontline workers in the food processing industry. Examples include the Paid Sick Days Now! and Help Food Processing Workers! initiatives.

Food processing workers also join UFCW Canada to gain access to union representation and a grievance procedure at work, which help protect members from unfair treatment, discipline, and termination, and ensure that scheduling and job posting practices are fair and transparent.

In addition, workers in the food processing industry like the fact that UFCW Canada offers free online training and education opportunities to members and their families, through the union’s ground-breaking online education program, webCampus.

Another reason why tens of thousands of food processing workers have joined UFCW Canada, and continue to join our union every year, is because UFCW negotiates industry-leading contracts that provide members with paid leave, better wages and benefits, and overtime pay.

The Best Choice for Food Processing Workers

UFCW Canada is proud to serve as the leading voice of workers in the food processing sector. Our members in the dairy and beverage production, meat processing, frozen, canned, and prepared food production, flour milling, and snack food industries work hard every day to feed Canadians and their families, from British Columbia to Manitoba to Newfoundland and Labrador.

UFCW has built a reputation as Canada’s food processing union because we represent almost 40,000 members working at some of the largest food processing companies in the country, such as Maple Leaf Foods, Pepsi, Cargill, Coca-Cola, Olymel, and many other businesses, in nearly every province.

Workers at JBS Foods, Agropur, Sofina Foods, Liberté, Diageo, and other food and beverage processors choose UFCW Canada as their union because we make work better for food processing employees - by negotiating good wages, fair scheduling, and excellent dental, drug, and eye care coverage for members. That makes UFCW the premier choice for food processing workers across Canada.

Within the food processing sector, UFCW Canada members work in a diverse array of job roles, including the following positions:

  • Baker
  • Batch Mixer
  • Blast Freezer Worker
  • Buyer / Purchaser
  • Cleaner Operator / Clean in Places (CIP) Operator
  • Continuous Improvement Coordinator / Process Excellence Specialist
  • Cook
  • Driver / Delivery Driver
  • Filling & Batching Operator
  • Food Processing Labourer / Food Processor
  • Food Production
  • Food Quality Specialist
  • Food Safety Associate / Specialist / Auditor / Analyst
  • Fruit Room Operator
  • General Labour / Production
  • Grind Operator
  • Industrial Butcher / Meat Cutter
  • Ingredient Specialist
  • Lab Technician
  • Logistics Operator
  • Machine Operator
  • Maintenance Technician
  • Meatpacker
  • Millwright / Mechanic
  • Packaging
  • Product Development
  • Production Worker / Labourer / Technician / Assistant
  • Production Supervisor
  • Quality Assurance Analyst / Specialist / Technician / Lead
  • Quality Control Monitor / Technologist
  • Relief Operator
  • Sanitation Worker
  • Skilled Operator
  • Skilled Production
  • Team Lead / Team Leader / Shift Lead / Shift Leader
  • Welder
 
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