ANA reports that labour federation Cosatu on Wednesday said it was deeply concerned by the pending jobs blood bath in the poultry industry, and was also alarmed by government's "deafening silence" on a matter of the utmost national concern.  

This came after Rainbow Chickens indicated that it would be retrenching 1,350 farm workers and close four farms in KwaZulu-Natal.  Latest reports also indicate that a total of 50,000 food and farm jobs could be lost following the influx of cheap chicken imports from European Union (EU) countries.  In a statement, Cosatu said that this could be at the levels of jobs lost when government allowed cheap Chinese imports to collapse the SA textile industry in the 1990s.  Cosatu said government needed to wake up and provide the necessary leadership to save the chicken industry.

• Read this report in full at IOL News
• Read Cosatu’s press statement at Cosatu Today
• See too, Malema wants 50% tariff slapped on chicken imports, at TimesLive
• And also, Demonising poultry imports is just foul play, at Business Report

Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page