Year: 1998
Location: Edmonton
Profile: During 31 years of work at the Swift Meats/Gainers plant in south Edmonton, Donato Colangelo experienced deteriorating management attitudes that produced the Gainers strike and finally the plant closure. Born in Italy, Colangelo migrated to Edmonton in 1963 where he had many relatives. He found employment as a baker but then joined Swifts in 1966 where several of his relatives worked. He worked in the rendering department in a trades helper role, working with millwrights, plumbers, and carpenters. Though he suffered two major job injuries, Colangelo believed that the company created a family-like atmosphere. Colangelo was shop steward for the rendering department for six years. When Peter Pocklington bought the Edmonton Swift plant and renamed it Gainers after closing the south side Gainers plant, Colangelo experienced speed-ups and poor treatment of workers.
Colangelo recalls the solidarity of the Gainers workers during the 1986 Gainers strike. He also talks about the division among the workers during the 1997 strike that ended with Maple Leaf Meats, which had become the final owner of the plant, shutting the plant down. He speaks critically both of Maple Leaf’s then president, Michael McCain, and the union in terms of the plant shutdown.
Keywords: Gainers; Maple Leaf Meats; Migration; Peter Pocklington; Plant closure; Rendering department; Speed-ups; Swift Meats; Trades helper; Workers’ compensation.
Transcript: Download PDF
See also: Occupational Health and Safety in Alberta; Summer of ‘86 in Alberta; United Food and Commercial Workers