Boutros Ding Adok
Documentarian: Tiffany Brown OlsenCOUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Sudan
DATE OF ARRIVAL: 2005
When he first arrived in Brooks, Alberta in 2005 to work at the Lakeside meat processing plant, Boutros Ding Adok found unequal treatment all around and what he saw as a lack of adherence to the rule of law. He and the many workers in Brooks who hail from Sudan and elsewhere have endured extraordinary workplace discrimination.
Such have been the discriminatory attitudes and practices stemming from racism in Brooks, even the UFCW (United Food and Commercial Workers) Local 401 was dubbed a "Sudanese union" by some plant workers and management.
Boutros says immigrant workers there essentially live “in a different world in terms of implementation of the rule of law” and that people working at Lakeside with residents of Brooks are “desperate” to have their dignity and rights respected.
“We need people to be respected… this is what we stand for.”
Believing the union is essential in helping make Lakeside and the workforce less discriminatory – and better for ALL workers – Boutros is now a chief shop steward within his UFCW local.
