Calves dying as meat men strike

Press, 30 August 1977, Page 1

Calves dying as meat men strike

PA Auckland More than 3500 bobby calves were left unkilled at. the Southdown Freezing Works yesterday when workers walked out on a three-day wildcat strike. Last night, calves — some only four days old — were dying in the pens from the combined effect of starvation, dehydration, and shock, after the freezing workers left their jobs without following the accepted rule of carrying out mercy killing. The workers, unsupported by the Auckland Freezing Workers’ Union, were striking in protest at the refusal of the Auckland Farmers’ Freezing Cooperative to pay the legal fees and costs of a worker found not guilty in the Supreme Court at Auckland last week of stealing meat from the company. A jury acquitted the man of meat thefts and the Southdown branch of the union demanded up to $2OOO compensation for costs and an apology for “embarrassment” suffered by the man concerned. A big operation to save the young calves from dying in the pens swung into action after the 1000 workers voted bv a show of hands to walk off the job forthwith. Stock trucks were summoned from all over Auckland and both the company and the central union

office spent much of the day arranging for the calves to be slaughtered at the neighbouring Westfield and Hellaby sheds.

Three thousand of the calves were slaughtered by workers at the other sheds, where some staff worked until 7 p.m. to clear the pens.

However, an estimated 600 calves were still in the pens at Southdown last night and the company estimated that "a good percentage” of these would be dead by this morning. The calves, taken from their mothers to the works on Sunday, were meant to be feeding constantly at their age, said the assistant manager at Southdown (Mr D. C. Molloy). Pointing to a pen of calves, many of which were prostrate, he said, “a lot of these are getting very sick. They should be drinking all the time.’They don’t know what’s happening — you can tell by all the noise.” At 7 a.m. this morning, about 80 members of the Southdown management staff were to begin killing the remaining block of calves.

The Co-operative’s industrial officer (Mr L. W. Lane) said that all of the calves would be processed by ’his afternoon. The company , had been given no advance warning of the strike other than being told on Friday that

“there may be a protest stoppage.” The company had been assured then that all stock on hand, particularly bobby calves, would be killed. Several strikes in protest at unsuccessful searches by the police for stolen meat were held last year hut they reduced when an agreement was made that all stock on hand or in transit to the works would be processed before such action was taken.

The president of the Auckland Freezing Workers’ Union (Mr F. E. Barnard) said that the Southdown branch had flouted the union’s policy of killing all stock before taking strike action.

“We have made it very clear that we don’t condone meat thefts,” he said.