Export meat industry pays $575M in wages

Press, 4 February 1986, Page 3

Export meat industry pays $575M in wages

By

GLEN HASZARD

The export meat industry is paying about $575 million in wages a year. The biggest group in the industry workforce is the meat workers, who have in the past been noted for high wages. Some of that reputation has been lost in the last few years because of the wage freeze, the lower than “going rate" settlement last year, and the cancellation of old incentive contracts in many works and their replacement with less favourable ones. On the other hand, some incentive workers at Nelson and Marlborough have the potential for higher earnings because of the introduction of mechanical pelt pullers. That potential, brought about by the capacity for increased production, has not been realised this season because farmers have, for their own reasons, not been putting lambs forward in the same numbers as last year and chains have been killing below capacity. According to the Meat Workers’ Union an expert- ' enced Canterbury slaughterman earned $28,000 gross last year, working all year, minus four weeks for a mainten-

ance shutdown. At the beginning of this season many meat workers were earning $223.75, the minimum pay for a week and took the view that they would have been better off getting an unemployment benefit The secretary of the Canterbury branch of the Meat Workers’ Union, Mr R. G. Kirk, says that to get $28,000 a year a slaughterman has to work his way through the levels of seniority and only after perhaps 25 years will he be a permanent worker. Others start during the season in accordance with their seniority and if they are starting now can expect only two or three months work. “Where is the incentive for anyone coming into the industry,” said Mr Kirk.

The piece workers are expected to complete their day’s tally, which at the peak is about 3200 sheep a chain and on average that takes about seven hours. That time does not include morning and afternoon tea, which in other jobs is paid for by the employer. Some freezing chamber hands may earn $31,000 a year, but that is generally by working a lot of overtime, perhaps 40 ordinary hours and 20 overtime

hours. The award rate is $6.77 an hour. The lowest paid are the yard hands, who get $6.39 an hour. They are only a small percentage of the workforce.

One thing that the union emphasises is that in general the industry is seasonal, so that workers have six to eight months work a year and their earnings have to last for 12 months.

In many towns the works are in isolated areas and workers must get to and from the works in their own transport at their own cost. Travel allowances are paid only if they start before 6 a.m. or after 10 p.m. At the peak of the season, when about 26,000 workers are employed, the average earnings for meat workers is $543 a week gross, according to Meat Industry Association figures. That is when the works are on their full quota. In the industry there are big differences between the higher paid and the lower paid. A slaughterman may be getting $l2O a day, and his assistant $6O a day. In the off-season the average pay is $360 a week, just above the average ordinary earnings in New Zealand.

Tradesmen in the meat export industry work to award conditions but their wages are negotiated by the Federation of Labour. Generally, the starting point is the settlement in the factory engineers’ award, and there is a small industry margin on top of that. Last year the tradesmen had to settle for less than the “going rate” increase, just as the meat workers did, but according to the Meat Industry Association they still enjoy a premium above tradesmen in outside industry. This is disputed by the secretary of the Canterbury branch of the Engineers’ Union, Mr Bob Todd. "Many factory engineers outside the freezing works are receiving higher wages than those inside the meat industry,” he said.

When the conciliation talks on the factory engineers’ award was negotiated recently it was not settled because the meat industry employers refused to agree to pay 15.5 per cent. Mr Todd said that although the award was not settled, employers in industries other than the freezing industry were paying the 15.5 per cent increase.