The Olymel company will announce Friday morning during a press briefing that it will close one of its pig slaughterhouses and the Vallée-Jonction plant, in Beauce, could be the one that will be affected.
• Read also: Olymel closes two other factories in Quebec
The concern that reigns there is due in particular to the fact that it is the oldest of the four Olymel plants in Quebec, and the one that would require the most investment in order to remain in operation.
Some $50 million would be needed to upgrade its Vallée-Jonction facilities.
It is also the place where there has been the least investment in recent years.
More than 800 people currently work there.
More than 7,000 pigs are slaughtered there every day.
It is the largest employer in the municipality.
“For Vallée-Jonction, Olymel is really the lungs of the municipality,” explains Mayor Patricia Drouin. Even for the entire region, we say that for one job at Olymel, three jobs in the region come as a result.”
The Éleveurs de porcs du Québec are awaiting confirmation of the plant that will be closed before commenting, but spokesperson Tristan Deslauriers still indicates by email “that no breeder and breeder will be left behind”.
“The priority of the organization is to ensure that it has a minimum impact on their daily lives and we will support those most affected,” he adds. We will work with the various partners to achieve this.”
The company’s three other slaughterhouses are located in Yamachiche in Mauricie, Saint-Esprit in Lanaudière and L’Ange-Gardien in Montérégie.
For the moment, the Ministry of Employment has not received any layoff notices, but hundreds of people will lose their jobs following the closure of one of the slaughterhouses.
Olymel boss Yanick Gervais had already announced that a plant would be closed in Quebec.
The company lost $338 million last year and had already announced that it wanted to reduce its pork slaughter volume by 20% this year.
Olymel is the largest pork processor in Quebec
We will know which plant will be affected by this closure during a press conference at 10:30 a.m. on April 14.