Meatworks shut down

DROUGHT has forced the closure of the Wallangarra Meatworks for a month, leaving 260 jobs in limbo.
The facility, owned by Thomas Foods International, will shut tomorrow after a national lamb shortage dramatically slowed its kill rate in recent weeks.
Chief Executive Officer Darren Thomas told Southern Free Times that the plant’s processing had fallen from 3750 units per day to 2800 during the past month.
“The drought has brought flock numbers down nationally and recent rain brought high sales numbers to an end,” Mr Thomas said.
He was confident the meatworks would be able to open in four weeks, with the company currently re-stocking in preparation.
“We believe that four weeks will be enough time to re-stock.”
The company would reduce kill numbers to keep the plant open and people employed, Mr Thomas said.
More than half of the meatworks employees are believed to be locals.
It is the second time that the facility has closed due to drought in the past six years.
The plant laid off 180 employees in 2009 before the family-owned Thomas Foods International took over in 2010.
Thomas Foods International has other plants at Murray Bridge and Lobethal in South Australia and Tamworth in New South Wales, which remain open.
While it is a major blow to Wallangarra – one of the poorest postcodes in Queensland – the closure of meat processing facilities is not uncommon.
Employee entitlement agreements vary depending on whether a worker is full or part-time, but workers in the meat processing industry can generally be stood down with just 24 hours’ notice.