More job losses announced in pigmeat sector

Three factories beside each other on the Waterford/Kilkenny border have shut down because of the pork scare with the temporary loss of 400 jobs.

Dawn Pork and Bacon, Kiely Meats and Country Style Meats, all based in Grannagh, Co Kilkenny, just outside Waterford city, have given protective notice to their workforces.

Sitpu estimates that 1,800 workers have now been laid off as a result of the crisis as talks between the producers and the Government over a compensation package continue without final agreement.

Dawn, which is the biggest of three, employs 300 workers at its slaughtering facility. It supplies Kiely Meats which is involved in processed pork products such as sausages, bacon and black and white pudding. It employs 68 workers while Country Style Meats Ltd which markets and distributes Kiely Meats products has a workforce of around 30.

All three shut down after workers in Dawn Pork and Bacon were told on Monday evening they were suspending the slaughtering facility, leading to the closure of the plants.

Along with the jobs in Co Kilkenny, 250 staff at the Olhausen plants at Coolock, Blanchardstown, Monaghan, Cork and Galway were let go today.

A statement from the company said it had taken the decision with "great regret" and it hoped it was only a short-term measure.

"The talks at government level to resolve the current issue are progressing and Olhausen management are hopeful that operations can resume upon successful conclusion of those talks," the company said.

Other companies which have let go workers today are Granby Ltd, also based in Dublin, which has laid off 50 workers, Drover Foods Limited in Wexford with 40 workers while Oak Park Foods in Cahir, Tipperary, has given protective notice to its 25 employees.

Yesterday, the Co Offaly-based pork producer Rosderra issued protective notice to its 850 employees.

Workers at the company headquarters in Edenderry held a meeting this morning and many were angered by the realisation that if the situation is not resolved they will not be able to receive any social welfare payments for six to eight weeks.

Sitpu official Frank Jones said: "There are a lot of Hungarian and Polish workers who did not understand the situation yesterday, but understand it now. Our plea is now to the Government to come in and offer us an assistance package to get us back to work. We have no word on how the talks are doing. If the producers are not compensated, they will close down. They simply can't take the heat on this one."

Sitpu National Industrial Secretary Gerry McCormack expressed some relief that there will be no similar lay-offs in the beef industry following the announcement this afternoon that only a small number of herds were affected by contaminated feed and there would be no general recall of beef products.

"It should be possible to protect public health fully and maintain consumer confidence without resorting to the sort of indiscriminate measures used in the case of the pig industry," he said.