Meat Industry Ireland (MII) has proposed a new code of practice for its workers in processing facilities.

The code was discussed with representatives of SIPTU on Tuesday, 1 September, as part of a follow up to a meeting held in early August. The proposal comes in response to a draft charter of workplace safety presented by SIPTU previously.

MII senior director Cormac Healy said: “MII and SIPTU are in agreement on the importance of ensuring measures are in place to protect workers from COVID-19 and the continuity of business which also protects workers’ livelihoods.”

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Ongoing challenge

MII has suggested that this new proposal will formalise the existing measures in place at its members’ processing facilities, as part of the continued effort to reduce the number of COVID-19 clusters in meat plants.

Healy continued: “The national screening programme has now commenced and it is essential that turnaround of test results are delivered within 24 hours.

“We discussed a code of practice for the primary meat processing sector in the context of addressing the ongoing challenge of this global pandemic. We will progress this code of practice further with an aim to finalising it at our next meeting.”

Differences which remain between the MII and SIPTU proposals relate to recommended measures on pay and conditions put forward by SIPTU.

MII has said pay and conditions are not matters within its mandate and rest with individual employers.

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