Lockdown abattoir promises to stop using subcontractors

A GERMAN abattoir and meat-packing group at the centre of a coronavirus outbreak said yesterday that it would hire 1,000 workers and stop using subcontractors for animal slaughtering and meat processing.

The Toennies slaughterhouse and meat-packing plant at Rheda-wiedenbrueck in western Germany has been closed for three weeks after more than 1,500 workers tested positive for Covid-19, causing a lockdown for 600,000 people in the Guetersloh region, which was lifted this week.

German slaughterhouses have faced criticism for their widespread use of subcontracted migrant workers from eastern Europe, with cramped accommodation suspected of contributing to outbreaks in abattoirs.

Toennies said it was starting a pilot project to directly employ 1,000 staff in slaughtering and meat packing by Sept 30 as part a plan to end all subcontracting in slaughtering in meat processing by the end of this year.

The changes are the first in a series, and show the Toennies group is taking the demands made on it seriously and working at speed “to meet the demands of politics and society”, said Clemens Toennies, the managing partner, in a statement.

Hubertus Heil, the German labour minister, condemned the system of “sub-sub-sub-contracting” in abattoirs – where subcontractors sometimes relied on other subcontractors for staff – and is introducing a law compelling meat packers to employ staff directly.

The Toennies Rheda-wiedenbrueck plant normally slaughters and processes 12-14 per cent of Germany’s pork and is one of 19 meat-packing plants in the country owned by the group.

Toennies faced criticism from German authorities in June after it was unable to immediately provide the addresses of subcontracted workers after the coronavirus outbreak at the plant.

The Guetersloh local government authority is still in negotiations about a hygiene plan with the plant, which has provisionally been ordered to remain closed until July 17.