It’s almost 9 am near the Olymel plant. Here everyone calls it the slaughterhouse. It’s a real juggernaut, the biggest employer in the Beauce. Right next to it flows the unpredictable river Chaudière, which invaded the fields in April. Spring is a long time coming, it will rain all week and everyone’s heart will be heavy.
It’s time for a break, the workers take the opportunity to go out. Andrée Rancourt smokes a cigarette in a small tent set up outside. The rain drums on his shelter. At 60, she hoped to keep her job until she retired, but the shutdown changed her plans.
I had five years left. It won’t be easy to start over somewhere else, to make other friends. At my age, not everyone wants to hire me, that scares me, says the worker in a quiet little voice, her blue eyes hidden behind big glasses.
Andrée Rancourt, Olymel Associate Photo: Radio-Canada / Patrick André Perron
For seven years, the woman from Saint-Georges-de-Beauce has been traveling to Vallée, about 35-40 minutes.
You know we work in the cold. But even if we have frozen feet, we like it, we have fun. I was thinking about it, I’ve already worked in a wood shop, maybe they’ll give me a chance. It’s warmer than the slaughterhouse and it smells nice, she says before she quickly leaves. My break is over, she slips before storming into the factory.
Here every worker has his story, but many people share the same feeling. A mixture of anger and incomprehension at the closure. Admittedly, the Beaucerons are known for having tough skin, but the news had the effect of a sledgehammer.
I found out about it on the news, which shocks me the most. We have the impression that everyone but us knew it, a worker blows down the mine, surrounded by his colleagues.
We are thanked in the same way, we have nothing to say and we suffer, raise another, red eyes. I have to look for another job, I have no choice, I have three children. I had anger, a little discouragement. When the announcement was made, some left, they had to let off steam, I saw many cry.
Workers at the Olymel plant in Vallée-Jonction Photo: Radio-Canada / Patrick André Perron
Olympus fights back. The company says no reporters were notified prior to the official announcement on Friday, April 14. A day earlier, however, several media reported on the news and caused consternation not only in Vallée-Jonction but throughout the Chaudière valley.
I learned it on TV. I’m not against journalists knowing this beforehand, but we should have had more respect. […] Such a major shutdown will lead to divorce, illness and even suicide, says another worker who is still shaken.
Losing his job at the same time
Several married couples will simultaneously lose their jobs next December when the plant’s activities cease. Such is the case of Richard Bailey and Chantal Picard, who live in Scott, about 20 minutes from the factory.
They told us that we had 15 minutes in the cafeteria to calm down and then we had to go back to our work place. But we decided to leave at noon, says Chantal.
They slapped us in the face. A good slap, she continues. Several of his colleagues, who have gathered in his house to discuss the shutdown over hot coffee, nod.
Her husband can’t believe how Olymel made his announcement. According to him, the workers had no opportunity to express themselves.
When the big bosses announced it, we couldn’t ask any questions. They made the announcement and hastily released the microphone. They left immediately, he said.
Richard Bailey and Chantal Picard Photo: Radio-Canada / Patrick André Perron
Richard has a lot on his mind, especially since he gave himself up for Olymel, and he paid the price. In 2021 he was injured on the floor of the Olymel plant. The finger entered the saw and was cut. I had surgery, there were complications. I picked myself up with my black finger because a bacterium had entered.
He was unable to work for several months. He had just returned to the factory when the news broke.
At the age of 64 he is afraid of the future. Due to his injury, his duties are more limited. Who is hiring me now? he wonders. I’m in pain all the time. It’s like having your finger in a vice 24 hours a day.” Chantal repeats, “It scares me. I’m 58, it’s harder to find a place as you get older.
At her side, her friend Carole Moisan, who dedicated ten years of her life to Olymel, is also going through difficult times. In the context of inflation, how do you find an employer with a good salary?
what will we become We go to bed and have trouble sleeping. I have to pay for a house, a cart, I have a six-year-old daughter.
The village of Vallée-Jonction Photo: Radio-Canada / Patrick André Perron
Older workers must age in the workplace
With many already sending their CVs to the many SMEs in the region, the situation becomes more complex for older workers.
In 2007 we lost almost 40% of our salary and pension fund. So it’s not complicated now, many workers have to keep working to have a decent retirement, confirms union president Martin Maurice.
Paul-Émile Turmel, 65, doesn’t want to retire now.
We made big concessions. It was a loss of $10,000 a year. It was a great effort by the workers to keep the plant running. It’s very disappointing, everything that’s happening puts the man on the road who worked at the factory for 45 years.
Mr. Turmel admits it. The job is tough, often in the cold. Assembly line work that tires even the most resilient. Not everyone can work there. You have to be strong, he says.
Paul-Émile Turmel, Olymel employee Photo: Radio-Canada / Patrick André Perron
Despite the hard work, many employees are over 60 years old. I even have some that are 70 years old and still around, notes the union president.
This is physical work, there are injured workers. What are we doing with this world? How will we replace them? he asks himself.
The union is still questioning the closure of the Vallée-Jonction facilities, long seen as the group’s flagship.
In the past few weeks we’ve seen Olymel’s numbers. We are the most profitable. In health and safety we have made changes, we are the best. We have managed to preserve our world, analyzes Mr. Maurice.
According to a source consulted, Olymel was conducting renovation and painting work until recently. They renovate, they spend and they decide to close! throws a worker at us.
Olymel, owned by the Sollio cooperative, claims it should have invested $40 million in its aging Vallée-Jonction assets. In addition, the company had to reduce its slaughter capacity due to unfavorable conditions in the pork market.
Beauce-Nord MP Luc Provençal was ready to ease the purse strings but admits he was surprised.
If Olymel wanted to get help and keep activities going in Vallée, I was willing to help represent them, he said.
The Olymel plant in Vallée-Jonction Photo: Radio-Canada / Patrick André Perron
A community that takes the hit
The entire region will suffer from the closure, but Vallée-Jonction has been hit the hardest. At Olymel, 1,000 workers come and go from all four corners of Beauce, even Quebec. You participate in the prosperity of the city, which is celebrating its 125th anniversary this year.
It’s a disaster for our village, it’s the biggest employer in New Beauce, says François Cliche, councilor and founder of the Beauce Railway Museum.
We are talking about a factory that operated from 1965 with 10 employees and increased to 1200 a few years ago. Initially they slaughtered 100 pigs a week, now it’s 7,000 a day.
The next few months will be crucial and the community will need to find a buyer for the facility. But the task can be difficult.
Impact is to be expected, but it all depends on how people turn around. There is a committee underway with City Hall, MPs, several advocacy groups and the pork industry to see if there is a possible revival of the factory to preserve jobs, he said.
The young mayor Patricia Drouin wants to bring business people together. We have many meetings, we are in negotiations. “I have proposals to make to the ward council, I have many ideas in mind,” she said in an interview with Radio-Canada.
We have a strength of character, we can get through this. We want to move forward to further develop our region, she continues.
Constance Pajot, owner of Pied de Cochon Photo: Radio-Canada / Patrick André Perron
Far from panicking, the traders we met stayed positive despite the grim context.
Of course this worries us, but Olymel employees don’t make up 80% of my clientele, it can be 5%. So we wait. We’ll see the impact in the coming months, says Denis Leclerc, owner of Le Jarret Noir Charcuterie.
Not far from there, in the middle of the village, Constance Pajot, owner of the French sausage company Pied de Cochon, hopes that the closure will change something.
I really want the buyer of the Olymel plant to know about pork and cut meat with respect for the animal. Quebec pork is the best. I can’t believe we can’t have a factory that allows us to source from local producers. This is my dream, she says.
But for others, the future looks bleaker. This is the case of Sylvain Roy, owner of the Marchés Tradition grocery store, who expects his sales to fall.
We didn’t expect that. Just before I bought there was a strike at Olymel that got settled, we said we’re fine, we’ll get through this, but unfortunately that wasn’t the case, he thinks.
Sylvain Roy, owner of Marchés Tradition grocery store Photo: Radio-Canada / Patrick André Perron
The community with 60 holes
For Sylvain, like many residents, the closure is a second blow after the 2019 floods, historic floods that transformed the landscape around the Chaudière river.
We had to close for half a year, we did extensive renovations, we opened up the walls, we insulated the walls to four feet all around, we put membranes under the foundation, we put in barriers that are installed in the doors, when the water rises. We hope to be watertight, he says, smiling despite everything.
In several Beauce communities, the government has bought buildings in flood zones and compensated residents.
If many welcome the measure, the operation still created trauma among citizens. More than 700 homes and buildings have been leveled in recent years in the Chaudière Valley from Scott to Beauceville.
The devastating signs of the floods are visible everywhere. In several places you can see paved house entrances that lead to vacant lots. In Vallée-Jonction alone, 60 buildings were destroyed.
We cannot rebuild on this land. We can’t do 60 parks if there aren’t 60 streets here! Do we resell properties? Can we allow things? exclaims François Cliche.
During the 2019 flood, the water had risen to the last step of the Vallée-Jonction town hall. The event was specifically highlighted Photo: Radio-Canada / Patrick André Perron
The City Council regrets that historic buildings have been destroyed, in particular Maison Chabot, built in 1885, near Vallée-Jonction train station. A number of celebrities have already been guests there, above all the charming singer Tino Rossi, who came to eat.
There is a part of Beauce’s history that no longer exists. Buildings over a century old have disappeared. We have vacant lots, but there is nothing left to tell our story, he laments.
In the meantime, residents had to leave the community due to a lack of housing. Kevin Cliche was lucky enough to live in his home village of Vallée-Jonction.
We loved our house, we loved the place. The 60 houses leave a big hole. Some have left and I’ve thought about it too. But I want to stay here for my child. I don’t want him changing friends, school, hockey team, it blurts out.
The Provençal MP promises that he will be there to revitalize the communities, particularly Vallée-Jonction. There are people who haven’t recovered from the 2019 event and that’s where we add the closure of Olymel, he said.
Vallée-Jonction Station Photo: Radio-Canada / Patrick André Perron
Will the train whistle again?
In the good old days Rail transport Vallée-Jonction was a hub of the central Québec rail network, well located between Lévis and Sherbrooke. For years, trains transported goods, but also people, until the late 1960s.
In recent months, the old railway bridge has been destroyed after damage from the 2019 flood, and another structure is being built high up. However, it is not unanimous, but it will allow the transport of mining residues in particular. Authorities hope the train will once again feature prominently.
The Provençal MP hopes that construction will start later this year and that the rehabilitation of the railway will encourage businesses to set up nearby.
However, the community relied on Olymel to boost rail service.
One would have hoped that the company would be a key partner for the return of the railway. It was counted on that they would use it extensively. But I have good hopes that employers will join the railways, assures the mayor of Vallée-Jonction.
The village also wants to build on its prestigious railway past. The small train station from 1917 has been preserved and every year it welcomes curious tourists who can even visit a nuclear shelter.
We want to create more jobs, more tourists. We have to bet on what we already have, affirms François Cliche, who founded the Railway Museum in the 1990s.
We have added rolling stock, a 1914 steam locomotive, we have a nice collection, we have many projects in the pipeline.
Behind him, the train station has stood in the same place for more than 100 years, witnessing the passage of time. The Beaucerons, we never give up, but it is certain that these are great challenges, he says with shining eyes.
View of Vallée-Jonction Photo: Radio-Canada / Patrick André Perron
The Fate of Foreign Workers
More than 120 foreign workers, mainly from Madagascar and Mauritius, still work for Olymel. Beauce MP Richard Lehoux wants to change his contract so that he can stay in Beauce and work for another employer or in a different sector than the food industry. The case is complex, a source tells us.
Some, like Nick Natasha Andrianarimacheno, have been here longer and have been granted permanent residency status. It will therefore be easier for her to work for another company. She hopes that we can sort out the situation of her colleagues who have a specific employment contract at Olymel.
“I am asking for the kindness of the factories and employers here in Beauce to open their doors to our immigrant friends, find them jobs and get permits,” she said with dignity.
No bonuses for employees
There are rumors that Olymel pays bonuses to laid-off workers. I hope they pay us, that would be the minimum,” says Paul-Émile Turmel, who has worked at the plant for 45 years.
But that’s not the intention of the pork producer at the moment, who says he respects the collective bargaining agreement and labor contract. However, the union confirmed that there were still talks with the employer.
Last October, Olymel announced a restructuring and the elimination of 177 senior positions. The company did not want to say whether these employees are entitled to a severance payment. Each contract may have specific terms that remain confidential, spokesman Richard Vigneault points out.