175 more meat workers' jobs to be cut

The workers are being laid off because of stock shortages. File photo / Amos Chapple

About 175 Hawke's Bay meat workers are expected to lose their jobs after a second redundancies announcement in the industry this week.

Bernard Matthews' Waipukurau plant said the workers were to be laid off because of serious stock shortages.

Managing director Willem Sandberg told Hawke's Bay Today the "seasonal layoffs" were the highest he had heard of during his 10 years with the company.

"It's a sad thing to do to tell that many staff they haven't got jobs but when there's nothing to process we don't have any choice," he said.

"There are usually seasonal layoffs in this industry, but nothing like this. Usually we have enough to process and keep the day shift going all year but that's just not going to happen.

"We have been concerned by livestock numbers this year, we were expecting it."

The news followed an announcement from Silver Fern Farms this week that it was preparing to cut up to 174 jobs from two Christchurch meatworks, the Belfast Rd site and the Canterbury lamb cutting works at Factory Rd.

Staff at the plants were called to a series of snap meetings on Monday and told Silver Fern Farms plans to close its lamb cutting plant, and to close the rendering and casings departments and restructure the coldstore department at its Belfast plant.

The lamb cutting plant closure would axe 135 jobs, and the Belfast cuts would cost 39 jobs.

Silver Fern Farms chief executive Keith Cooper said the proposed closures were a result of the firm's continued focus on streamlining business operations across its various processing sites in the South Island.

A final decision on the closures would be made on June 25 after consultation with staff.

- NZPA