News Coronavirus
Production speed in slaughterhouse must be lower
Trade union Federation of Dutch Trade Unions (FNV) believes that the production speed in slaughterhouses should be reduced for the sake of the safety of employees. In the meantime, Vion has resumed slaughtering activities in Apeldoorn.
The production speed must be reduced in connection with the safety of the work regarding the measures of the corona virus. Trade union FNV draws this conclusion based on a survey among slaughter workers.
Workers unsafe
In the survey, employees indicate that they feel unsafe because they cannot keep enough distance. “In production, people stand next to each other and when they enter, people gather at 1 point. The changing rooms are too small to change with dozens of people at the same time, so that one and a half meters is not possible," said FNV director Karel de Buizer.
According to De Buizer, the production speed must be reduced and space must be created. This means, for example, that not everyone can enter at the same time. It also needs to be properly checked.
Vion Apeldoorn reopens
The Vion slaughterhouse in Apeldoorn reopened today (May 28). The location was closed yesterday morning after police intervention because employees were transported too close together. After checking, Vion promised to take new and better security measures.
About the intervention, Vion CEO Ronald Lotgerink says: "The violations mainly concern the definition of 'household' within the applicable transport agreements. We also believed that our employees who lived together in the same home belonged to one household. This appears to be in violation of the RIVM restrictions according to the Apeldoorn police. We understand the position of the Security Regions and we are responding to their call."
Vion says it uses more than 50 coaches to bring all employees to work at an appropriate distance. Employees are required to wear face masks during transport. The extra measures were passed on to the employees last night. All vehicles that arrived at the slaughterhouse in Apeldoorn this morning have been checked by the police.
Chanti Oussoren
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