A strike at Cargill's meat processing plant in Guelph is entering its second month, leaving many workers in a difficult position.
“We had over 150 Cargill employees come through our Crimea Street store and about 50 across our other eight stores,” said Carolyn McLeod McCarthy, managing director of the Guelph Food Bank.
The strike, which began in late May over a wage dispute and working conditions, is forcing workers to make tough choices.
“We don't normally have this many people signing up at one time,” McLeod McCarthy told CTV News on Saturday. “On Monday we had 25 people sign up in the morning on top of everyone else, and yesterday we had 67 people sign up.”
The increase in demand is putting further pressure on what McLeod McCarthy says is an already stressed service.
“It's even harder now with the rising cost of living. Guelph is more expensive to live in than a lot of other cities in Canada. So we're seeing an influx of people and hopefully things will calm down.”
The food bank says the recent number of people signing up is unprecedented.
“This month, nearly 3,700 [individuals] “That's an increase of over 700 cases since January. The numbers continue to grow, and there's no end in sight, so we're doing all we can to help.”
MacLeod McCarthy says community support is needed now more than ever.
“We've had new people sign up almost every day since the strike. Main items include rice, pasta, pasta sauce, meat, tinned meat and tinned fruit,” she said.
The food bank is also seeking additional donations to buy food in bulk.
“The money actually helps a lot more than food donations,” McLeod-McCarthy said. “Of course, we want food donations, but the money helps us purchase the items we need most.”
In an email to CTV News, Cargill said: “We are concerned about the impact this labour dispute has had on our employees and their families. We are focused on ending this disruption and getting our employees back to work, and we look forward to meeting with the union negotiating committee on July 2 to discuss the possibility of doing so.”
CTV News reached out to the union representing the workers, United Food and Commercial Workers Local 175, for comment but did not hear back by deadline.
Donations can be made through the Guelph Food Bank's website.
Food donations can be dropped off at the back door of the warehouse, located at 100 Crimea Street, weekdays between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.
