30 jobs lost at abattoir
ABOUT 30 workers lost their jobs at
the Daylesford Abattoirs yesterday
after the company shut down its pig
slaughtering operation.
Increased operating costs and a
flood of pork imports forced the
closure after 12 years.
The Daylesford facility will continue
to operate as the administration head
quarters for parent company Auspork
Group and the wholesaling depot for
eastern state sales of pork and pork
carcasses.
A small boning room will also
operate from the Leitches Creek Rd
facility.
Daylesford Abattoirs executive di
rector Rod Hamann yesterday said
about 24 full-time and six casual jobs
had been axed.
In a statement, Mr Hamann said the
company had incurred "significant
losses" during the past two years due
to the flood of imported pork, the rising
Australian dollar, significant increases
in government regulatory and com
pliance costs, rapidly rising
WorkCover costs and the ongoing
consequences of the recent drought to
pig farmers.
"This has caused huge industry
uncertainty, with many producers re
ducing their production or even going
out of business completely," he said.
"This has created an environment
where we see little or no possibility of
supplier growth and therefore no op
tions for increased input."
Mr Hamann said while significant
improvements had been achieved in
recent months through a new enter
prise bargaining agreement, the lack
of throughput and no possibility of any
future pig supply change meant the
financial losses were still consider
able.
"We've made various changes to try
and improve the situation, but every
time we turn around we make $1
forward and we lose $2," he said.
"We have not been able to attract
and maintain more input through the
abattoir."
Between 10 and 15 employees will
remain working at the Daylesford site.
Retrenched employees have been
assured all entitlements and redun
dancy packages will be paid.
All pork products will now come from
Daylesford's sister abattoir at Murray
Bridge, South Australia.
Yesterday's job cuts were effective
immediately.