Former Swift’s worker John Ventura describes how the plants bought cattle and hogs and held them before butchering.
Joe Holoiday describes boning hams at Swift’s from 1942, how difficult and dangerous it was, and demonstrates how to use a steel to sharpen the knives.
Mary Ewasiw describes the monotony of working at Burns in the late 1950s where she cut and packaged wieners on the wiener line.
Gerry Beauchamp talks about moving to Edmonton in 1952 and being advised to look for a job in a packing plant – and that if one plant wasn’t hiring another would.
As a meat inspector Jerome Bidulka worked in all the plants and heard the workers talk about their companies with pride.
Harvey Appelt, a veteran meat inspector, describes how the standards for sanitation continually increased in all the plants as the years went on.
Don Lovatt describes shipping meat by train from Canada Packers during the 1950s using real ice, not mechanical refrigeration.