Overseas workers coming to Mataura meat plant

Thursday, 28 March 2019

Alliance Group has permission to employ 20 workers from overseas for its Mataura meatworks. Its Lorneville plant had so far filled 60 of its 100 approved places with additional visa applications still in process.

Immigration New Zealand has this month given the Alliance Group permission to employ 20 workers from overseas for its Mataura meatworks plant in Southland.

Alliance advised Immigration New Zealand it was likely to recruit from China and the Pacific Islands for the plant.

This follows Immigration New Zealand giving the Alliance Group approval in December to allow it to employ 100 overseas workers for its Lorneville plant, near Invercargill.

* Alliance given green light for 100 overseas workers

* Alliance applies for 40 overseas meat workers for Mataura plant**

Visa services manager Michael Carley said employers needed to meet certain criteria and provide supporting evidence to be granted approval to recruit overseas workers.

'This includes evidence showing that there are no New Zealand citizens or residence class visa holders available or readily able to be trained to do the work.'

Alliance Group senior staffer Chris Selbie said the Lorneville plant had so far filled 60 of its 100 approved places with additional visa applications still in process.

Immigration NZ had only approved the company's application for Mataura last week and some visa applications had already been submitted and the recruitment process for the balance was under way, he said.

'Unfortunately, the prolonged process to obtain the Approval in Principle for Lorneville, coupled with delays in Immigration New Zealand processing visas, has resulted in delays in the roles being filled and significant lost opportunity and value for our farmers,' Selbie said.

The arrival of overseas workers from China and the Pacific Islands had helped eased the shortage of employees at Lorneville, however Alliance still required additional people.

'Our local recruitment efforts are continuing alongside the search for people from overseas.'

The company was pleased with the contributions the new employees were making to the co-operative and it was likely they would be with Alliance until May, Selbie said.

They had settled into the local community and were staying in a range of accommodation including rental properties and company housing.

The overseas workers represented a very small proportion of the Alliance Groups total workforce, with the co-operative employing about 2800 people in Southland alone, he said.

'Our preference is always to employ people from our local communities and we have employed 600 new people at our Southland plants over the course of this season.'

Analysis had shown the company had employed more than 80 per cent of all candidates who met its pre-employment criteria which included passing a drug test and a medical assessment to confirm they were fit to perform physically demanding work.

'The health and safety of our people is paramount and our pre-employment criteria reflects this.'

Otago-Southland Meatworkers Union secretary Gary Davis claimed the Alliance Group was turning away Southlanders who were qualified to work at meat plants.

'I have had 10 to 20 [people] ring me to say they have been turned down and I can't see why in most cases.'

Davis said the union welcomed the company filling the spots available.

'But at the expense of local people? I don't think it's fair.'

People aged over 50 and those who had sustained injuries in the past, but were now okay, seemed to be missing out, Davis said.

Selbie said the company rejected any suggestion that it discriminated against candidates in its recruitment decisions.

In addition to its local recruitment efforts, Alliance was investing in training and upskilling its existing people to ensure they had opportunities to further their careers, Selbie said.