COSATU Congress of South African Trade Union : demands government`s urgent intervention to save our poultry industry and jobs

COSATU demands government's urgent intervention to save our poultry industry and jobs

COSATU is alarmed and deeply concerned by the pending jobs blood bath in our threatened poultry industry. We are deeply concerned by government's deafening silence on a matter of the utmost national concern.

Our poultry industry is under severe pressure from the concessions government was forced to make to the United States to allow South Africa to remain part of the US's AGOA trade agreement with African nations. Now our industry is battling to keep its head above the water with the dumping of thousands of tonnes of heavily subsidised cheap chicken imports from the European Union and Brazil.

Rainbow Chickens Limited (RCL) has already indicated that it will be forced to retrench 1350 farm workers and close four farms in Hammarsdale, KZN with more to come. The latest reports have indicated a total of 50 000 food and farm jobs could be lost and that this could be at the levels of jobs lost ,when government allowed cheap Chinese imports to collapse our textile industry in the 1990s.

Government needs to wake up and provide the necessary leadership to save this industry. We cannot afford for government to continue sleeping on the job. It needs to come with a clear programme and plan to save and protect our fragile and strategic poultry industry. This needs to include the following as a matter of the highest urgency:

• an urgent meeting with the poultry sector to develop an action plan to save jobs;
• put in place and enforce protective measures for the sector to block cheap imports and dumping, e.g. tariffs;
• Consider subsidising the poultry and agricultural sector, in particular new and emerging farmers, large scale employers and farmers who champion progressive labour relations. Subsidies should include lower rates and utility charges, provision of equipment, seeds, fertilisers, training, capital etc.
• Farm workers should be prioritised for land reform and equity so that they are not dependent upon the vagaries of the market for their livelihoods and homes.
• Farm and food workers should be given equity in farms and food companies.
• Government needs to actively find and arrange alternative markets, where our poultry sector can export our chicken to.

It's deeply troubling that to date government has been silent on this crisis. Government and political leadership should spend less time worrying about partisan conferences and focus more time on protecting and creating jobs. Our leaders should remember that workers are watching and will remind them of their inaction during the next vote harvesting season.

Issued by COSATU

Sizwe Pamla (National Spokesperson)
Tel: [phone] Direct 010 219-1339
Mobile: [phone]

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