Chicken factory at risk

Just a day after Bernard Matthews announced on Thursday (April 6) that it would slash 69 chicken production jobs in Norfolk, the 2 Sisters Food Group said on Friday (April 7) that it plans to shutter a Smethwick, West Midlands chicken processing site, putting more than 600 jobs at risk.

Following the news, Unite called for immediate talks with management in its bid to save as many jobs as possible.

2 Sisters, whose founder and owner Ranjit Singh Boparan acquired Bernard Matthews last year, said at the weekend in a statement that the company will aim to offer 200 jobs at other West Midlands sites to affected employees and will seek to redeploy other staff in the region and elsewhere within the group.

“We can confirm we are consulting with colleagues about a proposal to cease production at our poultry processing site in Smethwick and as a result the site could close,” the 2 Sisters statement read.

“The factory at Bevan Way, Alpha Business Park, is ageing and has significant challenges to meet the standards required by ourselves and our customers.”

The factory, which opened in 1996, exclusively processes chickens and supplies chicken portions and whole birds to retailers and other 2 Sisters sites. The site currently employs 630 workers — 530 of whom are Unite members — and processes more than 1,000 tonnes each week.

The firm said it did “not take this decision lightly” and that it remains “committed to our operations in the West Midlands and will work hard to ensure all possible options for colleagues are fully explored before any final decisions are made.”

Unite national officer for food Julia Long called the news “devastating for the company’s workforce at the Smethwick site and their families.”

“Unite will be offering our members maximum support at this very worrying time,” she added.

“Unite will study the implications of the announcement from the 2 Sisters Food Group and we will be strongly arguing the case to mitigate job losses thorough redeployment across the firm’s other operations in the West Midlands.”

Just last month, Unite organised a protest against 2 Sisters Food Group bosses, who it accused of acting like “tin pot dictators”. The protest was held outside Tesco, a major client of the poultry firm.

According to Unite, when reps have successfully challenged 2 Sisters on breaching terms and conditions, agreements and the law, the management has responded by dismissing one rep, allegedly assaulting another rep and suspending four others in a period of eight weeks.

Unite also protested against bosses allegedly using covert CCTV and audio recording equipment hidden in plug sockets to spy on workers.

Long said Unite is holding urgent talks with management this afternoon over the proposed Smethwick site closure.

UPDATE

Following this afternoon’s meeting, Long said, “We had a positive and constructive meeting with the company’s management today (April 10) and have made a commitment to prepare a set of proposals to save as many jobs as possible.

“We will be presenting our proposals to the management when we meet them again at Smethwick on Friday, April 21,” she added.

“One of the areas we will be investigating to mitigate job losses is redeployment across the firm’s other operations in the West Midlands, as it was made clear that the Smethwick site will close.

“We won’t enter into speculation as to how many jobs may be saved.

“This announcement has been devastating news for the company’s workforce at the Smethwick site and their families. Unite is offering our members maximum support at this very difficult time.

 
“During the 45-day consultation period, we will be fighting our members’ corner during further meetings with management to achieve the best outcome possible in terms of future employment opportunities.”