22 February 2001
Federated Farmers Relieved Vets And MAF Settle Pay Dispute
NZ Meat and Fibre Producers Chairman Chris Lester is relieved that Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF)
Verification Authority (VA) veterinarians and MAF have come to an agreement to settle the vets' pay claims.
"While the agreement still needs to be ratified, this is excellent news. Now farmers and the meat industry can get back
to filling customer orders for export," said Mr Lester.
"If the strike had dragged on any longer we really could have been facing a crisis in the meat industry."
"We need to put this difficult time behind us and ensure we don't go down this road again," concluded Mr Lester.
ENDS