Poultry industry to mark ‘day of misery’ with protest march against EU imports

The Food and Allied Workers Union (Fawu) will, on Wednesday, hold a protest march in Pretoria against the dumping of chicken in South Africa by European Union (EU) countries.

This is in response to 1 350 employees losing their jobs after packaged goods and milling company RCL Foods, formerly Rainbow Chicken, had to impose cutbacks at its Hammarsdale, KwaZulu-Natal, plant, which will take effect on Tuesday.

“Fawu has called for an immediate end to EU dumping in South Africa. The job losses highlight that dumping is putting at risk an industry with 110 000 direct and indirect workers, and a further 20 000 jobs in the related grains industry,” RCL Foods said in a statement on Monday.
 
It further stated that it had managed to redeploy some 300 workers, but warned that more jobs may be cut if the situation did not improve.

Fawu last year called for restrictions on EU poultry imports, which were allegedly responsible for bringing the domestic poultry industry to its knees.

Along with Brazil, the EU is the largest exporter of chicken to South Africa.

Fawu claimed EU countries were responsible for 80% of the bone-in chicken pieces dumped illegally in South Africa, forcing cutbacks and job losses in the local industry.

According to the union, leg quarters from the EU and elsewhere are surplus offcuts, often sold as waste, owing to a preference in northern hemisphere markets for breast meat and chicken wings.

“The surplus is sold below the cost of production which is how the World Trade Organisation defines dumping.”