Including at Terbeke

Meat processors are on strike: will it lead to empty shelves?

6 December 2017 - Bart-Jan van Zandwijk

A number of employees in the meat processing industry will lay down their work this week. This concerns personnel from branches of Zwanenberg Food Group, Stegeman and Terbeke. This causes shortages in sandwich fillings. When exactly they will strike and for how long is not yet known.

It concerns the Stegeman branches in Deventer and Wijhe, the branches of Zwanenberg in Raalte and that of Terbeke in Borculo. The factories supply meat products throughout the country. "Because work is being laid down at a number of factories, the companies will produce less or not at all in the near future. This has consequences for fresh products in particular," says press spokesman Brenda Heidinga of FNV Industries.

Meat processors skimp on working conditions

Not treated with respect
Trade unions FNV and CNV had issued an ultimatum to the employers. The problem lies not so much in the wage demands, but mainly in the skimping on other working conditions, such as travel costs. "People have not been treated with respect for years. They have to work more and more flexibly, but they get nothing in return," says Wilma Daams, director of FNV Voedingsindustrie, in a press release.

Situation in slaughterhouses deteriorated
This week it was also in the news that the situation in many Dutch slaughterhouses leaves much to be desired. That's what several judges said radio 1. They said that samples of meat are being manipulated and that veterinarians of the Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) are being threatened.

There are also concerns about the speed with which inspections should be carried out. In large slaughterhouses, 650 carcasses pass by per hour. That equates to 11 seconds per carcass.

Not familiar with explanations
The Association for the Dutch Meat Industry (VNV) says it does not recognize itself in the statements. For inspection activities, they refer to the NVWA, which is legally responsible for this. The NVWA has not yet responded to this.

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