PLESSISVILLE, Que. – As the Artemis II space mission brings Quebec maple syrup to the moon, the workers who produce the world-renowned product are alerting the Canadian and American space agencies of the less-than-ideal labour conditions they endure.
The maple syrup products being enjoyed by the Artemis II astronauts during their 10-day moon mission is produced at the Coopérative Citadelle operations in Plessisville, Que. The plant’s employees have been on strike since March 18, after denouncing the employer’s failure to address longstanding concerns over working conditions.
The workers, represented by the Syndicat des Métallos/United Steelworkers union (USW), have been seeking to negotiate a new collective agreement since their previous contract expired in late 2024.
The workers are demanding improvements to conditions that include working in 13 C temperatures, being monitored by cameras that record their every move, facing disciplinary action without the right to provide their side of the story, complaints of psychological harassment being ignored, and unresolved safety concerns.
The Steelworkers union sent letters today to NASA and the Canadian Space Agency, suggesting that in the future the agencies should ensure their commercial partnerships reflect the values that they wish to project – on Earth and beyond.
“Citadelle’s workers are not asking for the moon. They are asking for respect,” said Nicolas Lapierre, the Steelworkers union’s Quebec director.
“Working conditions have become so untenable that staff turnover has reached 70% over two years,” Lapierre said.
While Citadelle presents itself as a co-operative founded on the values of respect, integrity and team spirit, those values appear absent at its Plessisville plant, the union says.
The United Steelworkers, affiliated with the FTQ, is the largest private-sector union in Quebec. It represents more than 60,000 workers across all economic sectors.
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