Name
Bitter Harvest: Precarity, Solidarity, and the Closure of Del Monte’s Oshawa Plant
Date & Time
Friday, May 23, 2025, 9:45 AM - 10:00 AM
Description
This presentation explores the intertwined dynamics of labor precarity, worker solidarity, and the devastating impact of the 2024 closure of the Del Monte food processing plant in Oshawa. Drawing on this case study, I argue that the closure was not simply a corporate decision but a manifestation of deep-rooted structural insecurity within the contemporary labor market. Many workers at the plant were employed through the temp agency Swipe Jobs, performing low-wage, insecure work under a union contract that offered little protection. When the plant abruptly shut down, workers—many of them racialized, migrant, and precarious—were left without severance or alternative employment options.
Location Name
Mackenzie (ME) 4236
Session Type
Oral Presentation
Abstract ID
408
Speaker Name
Christopher Sorio
Speaker Organization
York University
Session Name
CS141 Economic Geographies I