Beef workers laid off again in Alberta, federal agency announces another recall

EDMONTON – Workers at an Alberta plant at the centre of a massive beef recall and E. coli scare have been laid off again as food safety officials review whether the facility can reopen.

The 800 workers were called into work Tuesday to finish cutting beef carcasses as part of a Canadian Food Inspection Agency assessment of how the XL Foods Inc. plant operates.

The United Food and Commercial Workers says the workers are now off the job again along with more than 1,200 employees who were laid off on the weekend.

Doug O’Halloran, UFCW Local 401 president, says the plant may reopen as early as Friday or Monday if the agency finds that XL Foods is following E. coli protocols.

On Tuesday night the CFIA announced yet another recall of beef from the plant, this time involving brands sold under different product names in B.C. and Alberta.

The recall of more than 1,800 products now involves 33 retail chains across Canada.