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Union blames government inaction for poultry job losses
Fawu berates government’s inaction as poultry producers shed thousands of jobs
The Food and Allied Workers Union (Fawu) criticised the Department of Trade and Industry on Monday, saying it was "folding its arms" and doing nothing while thousands of workers were losing their jobs in the poultry industry. RCL Foods plants in Hammarsdale will retrench 1,350 workers at the end of January. RCL Foods owns the Rainbow Chicken brand, SA’s second-biggest poultry producer. Country Bird Holdings, the country’s third-biggest poultry producer, has said it would be shedding about 1,500 jobs in the next few months. Industry watchers blame chicken imports, which averaged 27,500-tonnes a month for the 12 months to June 2016, a 43% increase on the previous comparable period. Fawu general secretary Katishi Masemola told Business Day on Monday that government leaders had been saying they would act urgently to prevent job losses in the poultry sector, but they had not matched these words with deeds.
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