Affco is a meat company with seven processing plants (or factories) in the North Island. At the processing plants, animals are killed for meat and the meat is prepared for sale in New Zealand or overseas. Frozen or chilled meat is our second largest export. (Dairy products are first.) Many of these processing plants are in small rural towns where there are not many other jobs.
In November, the company offered union members a new contract with a small increase in pay. The contract also said that the company was planning to use more technology for meat processing. Usually this means workers lose jobs. Union members refused to sign the new contract. At the end of February, the company decided to lock out about 1,000 workers. They could not go to work. Other workers then went on strike to support the workers who were locked out.
While some workers are now back at work, other workers are not. No work means no money. The company too is losing money with the strike. It is hard to know how this problem can be solved.
However, there is hope today that the company and the union will meet with a mediator to see if they can come to an agreement.
Vocabulary
• Union – a Trade Union. Members try to get a contract for all union members.
• refused – said, “No”.
• solve – find an answer
• mediator – a person like a judge who listens to both sides to try to solve disagreements.
Grammar and Idioms
1. Passive – are killed, is prepared. Passive is used when we do not need to know who does the work. We want to know what happens not who does it.
2. largest, second largest, third largest
3. to go on strike
4. to come to an agreement
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