Workers arriving at the Danish Crown meat processing plant in Birkenhead, in northwest England, on March 6, found their factory shuttered. They were handed letters saying that production had ceased with immediate effect.

Affco, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Talley's Group, a leading New Zealand processor of seafood, vegetables, dairy products and meat, has locked out some 1,000 meat workers at 6 of the company's 8 plants in the North Island of New Zealand.

Unite members at the food firm Vion in Cambuslang (near Glasgow) will walk out on 20th February in the first in a series of walkouts planned in a dispute over terms and conditions.

At the close of the IUF Meat Conference (1-2 November 2011), a proposal was made - and accepted - to convene a steering group of affiliates to explore the feasibility of creating a Meat Division within the IUF. The steering group would be tasked with looking at possible resources, priorities and objectives for the work of an IUF Meat Division.