Displaced employees of JBS Swift’s Longford abattoir will receive positions first when livestock supply improves, the company says.
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The outlook for supply should improve by November for Longford, JBS said.
“At this time we will need to build our production teams up in numbers and required skills,” a spokesman said.
“We have committed to existing employees who have been stood down and are still available to work that they will be placed in positions first.
“Once these employees have been placed the company will offer positions to new employees as per our normal recruitment process.”
Australasian Meat Industry Employees Union state secretary Troy Baker said on Wednesday there was unrest among stood-down employees after the company advertised for more workers last week.
He said the company had left them “in the dark” about its work availablity.
JBS advertised on Saturday for labourers and knifehands, after announcing in August that more than 100 of its staff at the Longford plant would be temporarily stood down because of a lack of suitable livestock to process.
The workers were stood down for six weeks without pay, but their contracts were not terminated.