Year: 1998
Location: Edmonton
Profile: George Kozak worked for 46 years at Swifts Edmonton and its successor, Gainers, as a mechanic. A life-long Edmontonian, Kozak was the son of a contractor to Swifts who shoveled coal for its Edmonton operation. When Swifts shifted to gas, Kozak’s dad worked inside Swifts cutting hog guts with a big cleaver. Kozak, born in 1920, joined Swifts in 1938 in the pickle cellar and later in the beef cooler. He describes dangerous working conditions, severe discipline, and low pay. While he was fighting in World War II, the plant was unionized and the United Packinghouse Workers of America, predecessor to the UFCW, struck the plant in 1947. They fought to have the owners deal with the slippery floors, wide open docks that let blizzards inside in winter, and unprotected ammonia piping. Working conditions and pay improved until Peter Pocklington bought the plant and renamed it Gainers. Kozak says that Pocklington put arrogant “young fellows” without meatpacking experience in charge. He retired rather than take guff from managers whom he considered to be know-nothings.
George Kozak appears in the ALHI video, “Unionize to Survive” here, and in the documentary, “Summer of ’86 in Alberta” here.
Keywords: Beef cooler; Coal shoveling; Gainers; Mechanic; Pickle cellar; Peter Pocklington; Swifts; United Packinghouse Workers of America.
Transcript: Download PDF
See also: Meatpacking Workers in Alberta; Occupational Health and Safety in Alberta; United Food and Commercial Workers