Two senior officials with an Alberta packing plant on strike have been charged in connection with a car crash that injured a union leader.

Garnet Altwasser, 65, and Patrick Gummeson, 52, were charged with dangerous driving.

Altwasser has been Lakeside Packers' president and CEO, and Gummeson is the manager of farm operations.

Two others -- Kaye Kronebusch, 25, and Derek Lewis, 35 -- face the same charges.

Doug O'Halloran, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers, was involved in a three-car collision near the entrance to the slaughterhouse in Brooks, Alta.

While he's been released from hospital, O'Halloran was feeling too stiff and sore to comment on Saturday.

O'Halloran has also been charged with two counts of wilful damage and one count of possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose in connection with the smashing of a bus's window transporting strikebreakers across the picket line on Wednesday.

There were conflicting accounts of what caused the crash, which happened near the entrance of Lakeside Packers.

While some allege that plant managers ran O'Halloran's vehicle off the road, others say he crashed it while trying to avoid being served with legal papers.

Just hours before the accident, O'Halloran called on Alberta to force Lakeside Packers into binding arbitration "before someone gets seriously hurt."

One union member had videotaped the crash aftermath. The footage showed O'Halloran's sport utility vehicle heavily damaged on the front and side, and the union leader being treated by paramedics.

The news comes as police investigate allegations of assault, property damage, and use of weapons after confrontations on the picket line.

The walkout began Wednesday as the union fights for a first contract. The company closed the plant for the weekend.

Lakeside won an injunction Saturday from a Court of Queen's Bench judge limiting the number of picketers at any one time to 50. The court order also prevents strikers from attempting to stop any vehicle entering or leaving the plant's grounds.

Saturday's ruling will allow the RCMP to make arrests.

About 2,400 people, including management staff, are employed at the plant, which is about 160 km southeast of Calgary.

The dispute between the two sides has dragged on for months and intensified recently when Tyson rejected a provincial arbitrator's recommended proposal for a settlement.

The company said the proposal would have resulted in unacceptable labour cost increases.

The union says the company's offer is an insult to their wages, seniority, working conditions and benefits.

The union wants the company to agree to binding arbitration, but the company wants its latest contract offer put to a vote by the union.

Lakeside Packers processes nearly 40 per cent of Canada's cattle. The union stands to lose $1.5 million a week in salaries.

With a report from CTV's Sarah Galashan