ETOBICOKE, January 30, 1999 - Ontario Pork is extremely pleased with the recent announcement by Quality Meat Packers Ltd. and the United Food and Commercial Workers Union to end their eight-week-old strike. The vote yesterday ends the strike which has been in effect since December 7, 1998 and has severely impacted the price producers receive for their hogs, through increased transportation costs to ship to alternate markets.

"We are elated with the recent announcement to end the strike at the Toronto plant," stated Will Nap, Chair of the Ontario Pork Producers’ Marketing Board. "Ontario Pork is presently working with Quality Meats to arrange the marketing and scheduling of hogs as the plant returns to full processing capacity."

Producers should consult with the sales and marketing department to coordinate logistics on the 25,000 hogs processed each week," Paul Knechtel, C.E.O., remarked. "The strike presented both opportunities and challenges for many of Ontario’s pork producers and our staff, but the end result is an enhanced business relationship with one of our major customers."

Ontario Pork represents 6,000 producers in Ontario in many areas including hog marketing, consumer education, research, government representation, environmental issues, animal care and quality assurance programs. The Ontario Pork Producers’ Marketing Board had gross sales of $687 million in 1997, based on sales of approximately four million hogs. It is estimated that the total industry output from farm gate sales is worth $4.5 billion to the Ontario economy.  

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Contact: Keith Robbins, Director, Communications        Phone (416) 621-1874

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January 29, 1999

Dear Pork Producers:

Quality Meat Packers today reached an agreement with its employees, members of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, to end the 8-week strike.

This means that employees will begin returning to work early next week and both the Toronto and Bramalea facilities will be brought back to full capacity as quickly as possible. It will take approximately one week for operations to return to normal.

The end of the strike means that Quality Meat Packers expects to be able to accept 12,000 hogs for slaughter next week, which will all be purchased through QMP's block contracts with the Ontario Pork Producers' Marketing Board.

Quality Meat Packers will be in the position to resume its contracts with Ontario pork producers as of Monday, February 8, 1999. QMP will be working closely with Ontario Pork and producers to develop individual shipping schedules for the next few weeks. Producers, both contract and pool, will need to ensure that hogs shipped to QMP meet grid weight specifications. Producers with hogs that do not meet weight specifications should contact Ontario Pork to discuss shipping arrangements. Contract producers will be contacted by Qmp in the near future to discuss further details.

The strike has been long and difficult for all affected - especially Ontario pork producers. QMP deeply appreciates the support and underatanding received from pork producers during this ordeal, at a time when the industry is in crisis.

If you have any questions, please leave a message for Don Cohoe or Margaret Dudley at (416) 703-7675, extension 172 or 255 and they will call you back as soon as possible.

Yours sincerly,

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