BY GARY LYSAGHT
Workers at the soon to be closed Ingham’s processing site at
Cardiff have been thrown a lifeline by rival Baiada Poultry.
Baiada has struck a deal with the Meat Workers Union to hold
discussions over taking up to 80 of the workers who aren’t seeking
redundancies.
Ingham’s is set to close the Cardiff site in August, citing
the need to reduce expenditure as the main reason.
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| Baiada are set to employ 80 of its rivals staff [Source: Newcastle Herald] |
Meat Workers Union Newcastle branch secretary Grant Courtney says the
highly skilled workforce is being courted by many employers.
“We’ve also been contacted by JBS, which is the biggest meat
processor in the world, based at Scone.
They’ve said if there’s any skilled workers that would like to apply out
there, by all means,” he said.
Courtney says workers are also being asked to apply at
another Baiada site at Tamworth, while other workers have asked for transfers to
Ingham’s Sydney site.
“It’s one of our principle policies about employers having a
moral obligation to employ locals first,” says Courtney who believes Baiada are
doing just that.
“The company has always said we haven’t got enough skilled
workers. Well now we’ve got a fully
skilled workforce that is available,” he said.
Around 360 full time and casual staff work at the Cardiff
site and while Courtney admits he doesn’t know when they’ll move on to their
new positions, he’s still overwhelmed with the outcome.
“I’m very, very happy and supportive of Baiada [for] taking
the high moral ground on this issue and hopefully offering employment to the
Cardiff/Novacastrian workforce,” he said.
