September 10, 2009
Australia trade union calls for slowdown of live cattle exports
The robust live cattle export trade should be slowed down as it is jeopardising the livelihood of meat workers, according to the Australasian Meat Industry Employees Union.
A number of meat processors in Australia have been forced to cut back to four working days because of the declining availability of cattle, the union said.
Recent shift cuts in slaughterhouses could be minimised if limits were put on live exports, said the union's secretary Brian Crawford.
Australia exported about 704,000 head of cattle to Indonesia as of June 30 this year, a number that could put many jobs in the slaughterhouses at risk, Crawford said.
Teys Bros had announced shift cuts at its Queensland slaughterhouses, while Nolan Meats at Gympie has temporarily reduced its number of operating days on the slaughter floor from five to four days.
Meat processors need prices to ease or have more stock at hand in order to be more competitive, said Nolan Meats director Terry Nolan.
"If we get spring rains and general rain up the eastern seaboard, I can see cattle being in very short supply, and I think you'll see more stand-down days," he said.
