Further lay-offs as beef pickets continue

A further 100 meat factory workers will today be temporarily laid off as blockades continue at beef processing plants across the country.

ABP has announced the 100 lay-offs at its plant in Cahir, Co Tipperary, which are in addition to the 355 employees who were temporarily laid off earlier this week, as demonstrations continued despite appeals for protesters to stand down.

The company said it has now temporarily laid off 1,463 staff across the country since the prostets began.

ABP said the “regrettable action” of further lay-offs in Cahir “is a direct result of the ongoing illegal blockades at the site by seven protesters”.

The company said blockades have cost local suppliers in the region of €6m, and estimated that €5m a week is being lost to the local economy in wages, cattle payments and fees to third party contractors.

Liffey Meats and Dawn Meats also reported continuing protests outside some of their factories yesterday.

Beef Plan Movement spokesman Dermot O’Brien said it backed the deal struck between farming bodies and processors last weekend, and is encouraging people to come off the pickets to allow production to resume. He said the “multi-denominational” make-up of protesters from various groups made it difficult to bring the protests to a halt.

He urged farmers who are still unhappy at the base price paid for cattle to join BPM’s Producers’ Organisation, which will have the power to collectively negotiate with processors.

Mr O’Brien said BPM is calling for a two-month amnesty on the 30-month rule for cattle, in recognition of the backlog due to the suspension of production.