Agropur has reached a tentative agreement with the union representing the 250 workers at its Granby plant who have been on strike for just over a month.
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Before the memorandum of understanding is presented to the employees, the two parties must first agree on a return protocol, Bernard Cournoyer, regional coordinator at the headquarters of the Democratic Unions (CSD), explained in an interview with the agency QMI on Sunday.
“If we complete the return protocol on Monday [l’assemblée générale] could take place on Wednesday,” he said.
The union and the employer believe that this agreement should in principle satisfy the employees.
“There are elements in the agreement that allow us to say we can present them to our members,” Mr Cournoyer said.
“If we have an agreement in principle, it’s because both parties agree on what is [dedans] respond to their inquiries. And then we present it to the General Assembly, which will either reject or accept the agreement.
Remember that the 250 workers at the Agropur cheese factory in Granby have been on strike since June 29 to extend their contract, which expired in July 2021.
Dairy producers have been putting pressure on both parties since last week to resolve the situation as soon as possible. “It’s time for this to end,” President of the Producteurs de lait du Quebec, Daniel Gobeil, said on Tuesday, regretting that the producers are bearing the cost of this work stoppage.
Producing 800,000 liters of milk per day, Agropur’s Granby plant has to transport those liters of whole milk to other plants in Quebec and Ontario for processing, which means additional costs for growers, processors and transport companies.