Wage cuts ‘will not fix poultry problems’
The Food and Allied Workers Union told a parliamentary committee on Friday that wage cuts in the poultry industry were not the solution to the growing threat of job losses caused by cheap chicken imports from the EU.
The Food and Allied Workers Union (Fawu) says wage cuts in the poultry industry are not the solution to the growing threat of job losses caused by cheap chicken imports from the EU.
The union appeared before Parliament’s portfolio committee on agriculture, forestry and fisheries on Friday to discuss the challenges facing the poultry industry.
Asked by MPs whether Fawu would consider agreeing to wage reductions to stem job losses, the union’s general secretary Katishi Masemola said the union would never support such a proposal.
Employee-related costs are typically the highest overhead costs in the industry. The poultry industry employs more than 120,000 people through both direct and indirect jobs.
The South African Poultry Association (Sapa) has estimated that up to 50,000 new jobs could be created in the industry if SA took a decision to prevent imports of chicken.
Masemola said the union was working closely with the association to tackle the crisis in the sector.
“We put aside our differences. We know we disagree on issues such as casual labour and the employment of workers supplied by labour brokers. We set [that] aside because we have a state of emergency,” he said.
The industry continues to shed jobs and has called on the government to intervene.
In February, Rainbow Chicken retrenched 1,350 workers. Country Bird confirmed last week that it would close its facility in Mahikeng in the North West “in the absence of increased government protection against imports”.
Masemola said without government intervention, the industry would be “decimated”.
The local industry and unions argue that the EU is selling chicken legs, thighs and wings below cost. But the EU has said its farmers are more competitive than farmers in SA.
In December, Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies approved a provisional 13.9% safeguard duty on European bone-in chicken in terms of SA’s economic partnership agreement with the EU. Sapa said this was not enough. The association had applied for a 37% safeguard duty on European bone-in chicken imports in 2015.
The government recently established a poultry sector task team to deal with the crisis in the domestic poultry industry.