A strike ballot affecting staff at the Food Standards Agency (FSA) will close on 31st October, with UNISON saying that this could result in strikes in the run up to and over Christmas, leading to less meat on supermarket shelves.
The dispute, involving several hundred inspectors, vets, and office-based staff in Wales, England and Northern Ireland has the potential to bring the industry to a halt, according to the union. Earlier this year, FSA staff voted to reject a pay offer of between 2% and 5%.
UNISON head of local government Mike Short said: “FSA staff play a vital role in keeping contaminated meat off people’s plates. But many have to work in a difficult and unpleasant conditions inspecting carcasses for signs of disease.
“These employees protect consumers, ensure good animal welfare, and must be rewarded accordingly. The FSA needs to come up with a significantly higher offer to avoid any disruption.” In response FSA said its contingency plans would minimise any disruption to meat supplies if there are strikes.
Robert Locker, head of field operations at the Food Standards Agency said: “We are aware that UNISON is currently balloting its members and the ballot closes on 31 October. We await the ballot result and notification from UNISON of its next steps. Should UNISON decide to take industrial action, our contingency plans will help minimise any disruption to meat supplies.”
However, according to the British Meat Processors Association (BMPA) any industrial action by FSA staff has the potential to bring a lot of the meat supply chain to a standstill because, without meat hygiene inspectors and official veterinarians, animals cannot be slaughtered, and meat cannot be released and sent for sale in shops.
In addition, the BMPA have said that because of the geographical spread of abattoirs and meat processing plants, along with the specialised nature of the job, it won’t always be possible for FSA to re-direct non-striking staff to where they’re needed. A sheep or cattle expert in one location can’t simply be seconded to a pig or poultry processor in another part of the country.
Nick Allen, of the BMPA commented: “To make matters worse, we already have a shortage of people in these posts due to the labour crisis. The choice of timing for the strikes will also cause maximum damage to the whole domestic and export supply chain.
“Not only will it disrupt Christmas supplies to shops when volumes are at their highest during the year, but it has the potential to cause a serious animal welfare problem on farms if processors simply can’t take any animals due to the absence of a vet. This strike action will hurt the FSA, processors, consumers, farmers and animals alike.”
This story was originally published on a previous version of the Meat Management website and so there may be some missing images and formatting issues.
