KILLING QUOTAS DEFENDED

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29269, 29 July 1960, Page 15

KILLING QUOTAS DEFENDED

Union Secretary’s Statement Killing quotas in Canterbury were always fixed each season by negotiation between the union and the freezing companies, said Mr T. Handisides, secretary of the Canterbury freezing workers’ union, yesterday. Last season, all works in Canterbury had killed to capacity as a result of such agreements. Mr Handisides was commenting on a statement made this week by the chairman of the North Canterbury executive of Federated Farmers (Mr A. F. Wright) that “what we want is the total abolition of the killing quotas in Canterbury.” Even if quotas were abolished, there would, on occasions due to the physical limits of facilities at various freezing works, be some difficulty in all farmers having their stock killed just as and when they wanted it killed, Mr Handisides said. “This state of affairs does not require the building of additional works in the district, as the position only occurs at peak periods, and in times of emergency, said Mr Handisides. “I quite appreciate that the farmers are concerned to have their stock killed. The union is also concerned to ensure that its members have some security of employment,” Mr Handisides said. “Probably it is not out of place at this time to point out that quotas were originally imposed in Canterbury by a non-Labour Government to prevent pirating by a certain company,” he said.