Godwin Iwanegba
Documentarian: Eryn FitzgeraldCOUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Nigeria
DATE OF ARRIVAL: 1999
In this audio interview, Godwin speaks candidly about life on the ‘kill floor’ of the Lakeside Packers slaughterhouse facility in Brooks, Alberta, and about how he slid to the front-lines of an historic labour dispute between the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW) and the industry giant.
On October 12, 2005, about 2,300 UFCW Local 401 plant workers had no other choice but to strike after the company rejected a provincial mediator’s contract agreement. At issue: basic human rights and safety protection on the job. The story wound up really being a struggle for dignity.
One of Godwin’s most disturbing encounters became well-known as a symbol of the unfair labour practices under challenge during the strike action: “I begged to use the washroom and my boss said 'No', so I ended up wetting myself and standing in my own urine for the rest of the shift. Later I was disciplined for filing a complaint about what happened.”
Lakeside Packers notoriously relies on workers like Godwin who hail from places as far as Sudan, Somalia, and Nigeria. Racial discrimination on the job was a regular thing. Godwin and his peers even experienced violence and racist jeers on the picket lines.
Why was the UFCW Local 401 strike so ground-breaking? For more than a decade, Tyson Foods operated Lakeside Packers with some of the highest injury rates of any industrialized plant in North America. Workers – many of whom are refugees and immigrants eager to earn any wage – were subjected to serious injury along with the worst kinds of discrimination. The company long refused to agree to a fair contract, leaving these workers dangerously vulnerable.
Thanks to the courage of workers like Godwin, many changes have occurred inside the plant, paving the way to a less tumultuous and oppressive work environment for future employees of Lakeside Packers.
For more information see: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/calgary/story/2006/11/03/brooks-oneyear.html
