Meat

Under pressure from the German Food Workers Union, NGG, the four largest meat companies in Germany have agreed to start negotiations on a minimum wage.

The US Government Accountability Office (GAO) has released a report critical of the USDA proposal to remove federal inspectors from the line at poultry processing plants and to double permissible line speeds to 175 birds per minute. GAO criticised the evaluation of the USDA pilot programme for using inaccurate data and failing to address the food safety risks. The USDA must also give serious attention to the OSH risks posed by increased line speeds before proceeding with its 'modernisation'programme.

The German Food and Allied Workers Union NGG has long demanded a legal minimum wage of EUR 8.50 in its campaign to end wage dumping. Meat packing companies, in particular, exploit the absence of a legal minimum wage by hiring workers from eastern Europe through agencies which pay poverty wages. 

The governments of 4 cities in the Vechta district of the German State of Lower Saxony (a major hub for animal slaughtering and wage dumping) have signed an agreement with meat-packing companies and their labour providers providing for a minimum wage of EUR 8.50.

After a 15 year fight by meat unions, the Brazilian Government set up a tripartite commission to investigate the appalling lack of health and safety in Brazil’s meat industry. This process resulted in the passing of comprehensive regulations which have the potential to benefit 1 million workers.

As part of their campaign, better jobs 4 better chicken, Australia’s National Union Of Workers (NUW) recently surveyed 1000 workers in the poultry industry concerning safety. 62% of poultry workers received less than two hours of manual handling training with 37% saying they have had no such training at all.

The US Department of Agriculture has proposed modifications to its poultry slaughter inspection program which would remove the requirement of processors to test for salmonella or campylobacter and permit line speeds of 175 birds per minute.

The IUF is saddened but not surprised at the deaths of 120 workers when a fire swept through the Baoyuanfeng poultry plant in northeast China on June 2. When the fire broke out there were 350 workers trapped in the processing facility and only one narrow exit.