Three months after the closure was announced, the countdown continues for foreign workers at Olymel’s Vallée-Jonction plant. While several foreign workers have already decided to leave the region, some have complained about a lack of information from the company.
Hans Jonathan Berard is one of 123 foreign workers at the Olymel plant in Vallée Jonction.
Of these, no fewer than 87 workers have already decided to join the ranks of other Olympel plants in Quebec. For the Mauritius native, the reason is simple. Some workers were unaware of their actual options before making the decision to leave their voting region.
“There are people who have signed [leur transfert] under the unique burden of pressure. […] “Some came back to me to find out if it was too late to cancel their signed agreement,” said Hans Jonathan Berard.
In fact, when recruited by Olymel, the workers accepted an employment contract that linked them to the Vallée-Jonction plant, a so-called closed contract. What some didn’t know was that they had the option to re-contract to tie them to another company in the area if they so wished. So you could have avoided one more step.
For Beauce Federal Representative Richard Lehoux, the situation for the region could have been far less serious with more transparency from Olymel. Especially since the unemployment rate there is below 2%.
“As an employer, I understand that Olymel has assumed the cost and time of hiring these workers, except that it is a company decision to close this facility!” I find it unfortunate that the workers in are at odds in this situation,” he said.
However, the company believes that the workers made an informed decision.
“That is our claim. We have taken steps to raise awareness among workers. […] We have held many meetings, in addition to meetings with members of the federal and state governments, where they had the opportunity to ask their questions,” said Olymel First Vice President Paul Beauchamp.
The definitive closure of the Olymel Vallée-Jonction plant is scheduled for December 22nd.