Te Aroha plant staff briefed on employment options and plant future
Silver Fern Farms Chairman Eoin Garden and Chief Executive Keith Cooper today met with a large number of the 350
employees of the company’s fire-damaged Te Aroha plant to brief them on employment options for coming months and to
outline the key timeframes around the future of their plant.
The Te Aroha plant was significantly damaged by a fire late on Friday night. It took about 20 fire engines and 70 fire
fighters to bring it under control. Fortunately, no one was injured, nor any livestock involved, and there were no
environmental impacts. Mr Cooper says the mood was sombre at today’s meeting, reflecting the impact of employment
uncertainty. “We value our skilled and dedicated people at the plant and know they need certainty about income for their
families – especially three weeks out from Christmas. They are employed under seasonal contracts, which means that if
work is not available, they are seasonally ‘laid off’. However we are sensitive to the situation and, in addition to
paying all staff their normal weekly earnings as if they had worked this week, we will also pay them the minimum wage up
until Christmas.
“Furthermore, we are offering 190 positions at our Pacific plant in Hastings, on full pay plus an accommodation
allowance. We believe this will create a positive opportunity for the majority of our Te Aroha people.” Mr Cooper says
that, because the company needs to service the Silver Fern Farms suppliers that have livestock processed at the plant,
it is increasing capacity at its Dargaville, Hawera and Pacific plants. In starting a night shift at Pacific plant, the
company is hopeful that 190 staff from Te Aroha will take up the offer of employment to man this shift for the remainder
of the season. He says the additional capacity being brought on at Silver Fern Farms’ other plants will enable the
company to largely absorb livestock that would have been processed at Te Aroha – on a short-term basis, at least. This
is happening with the assistance of business interruption insurance cover, which will largely compensate any negative
impact on the business.
Chairman Eoin Garden says Silver Fern Farms has a great team at Te Aroha plant and a solid shareholder/supplier base.
“And we have customer demand for the product we produce. This all means Silver Fern Farms will require a plant in the
area for the future.” The cause of the fire has yet to be confirmed, but provisionally it appears it may relate to
external contractors leaving a residual heat source, which ignited some time after work was complete. It is clear there
was no neglect by the company, nor any Silver Fern Farms employees.
ENDS