More jobs and investment

Financial media reported that JBS, the largest global food manufacturer, has informed its shareholders that it will seek to relocate headquarters to Ireland, a move that Unite has welcomed.

Unite representing workers in Moy Park says that the decision must mean additional jobs and investment to follow.

Sean McKeever, Unite officer for workers at Moy Park hailed the reports.

“Reports have now been carried in a variety of media outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, which indicate that JBS, the largest food manufacturer in the world, has informed its shareholders that it is to seek to relocate their official international headquarters to Ireland.

“This is a company which reported a net income or profit of £918m on revenues of £32.2bn for the year ending December 2015; it employs more than 200,000 people worldwide,” he explained.

“Their proposed move comes less than a year after the Brazilian company acquired Moy Park, one of Northern Ireland’s largest employers, where Unite represents the overwhelming majority of workers,” McKeever noted.

“While we recognise that this decision may have been driven by the group’s desire to reduce corporation tax liabilities, we welcome moves which will allow a much greater degree of integration between the company’s international operation and their holdings in Ireland, in particular Moy Park,” he went on to say.

“If approved by relevant agencies globally, the move would potentially result in tiers of management jobs coming to Ireland, as well as additional operational investment.”

 

 

Pic of a Moy Park chicken farm, Ireland, copyright Kenneth Allen