March 11, 2009
Harvey Beef to lay off 160 workers and cut production
Western Australia's (WA) largest beef producer, Harvey Beef is set to lay off 160 workers at its south-west abattoir redundant and also cut production, claiming it cannot sustain present losses due the global financial downturn and high labour costs.
The company will cut production from a seven-day to a five-day operation.
The Australasian Meat Industry Employees Union (AMIEU) met Harvey Beef management last night and was told of the plans to lay off workers.
AMIEU state secretary Graeme Haynes said he was deeply concerned and he was suspicious of the company's motives, given that the redundancy announcement came only days after workers rejected a pay deal which would have cut pay for some workers by 20 percent.
A Harvey Beef spokesman said the decision to make 120 full-time positions and 40 contract positions redundant had not been easy.
The spokesman confirmed the operation would revert to five days but did not comment what it represented in terms of cuts to total production.
Harvey Beef has said it typically slaughters 3,500 head of cattle a week.
WAFarmers president Mike Norton said producers were nervous at the state of the Harvey Beef operation, which was critical to the industry and to cattle prices in WA, adding that there is a need to rebuild confidence in the production sector as soon as possible.
