Minister must demand that Meat industry stop court actions – Matt Carthy MEP
Sinn Féin MEP Matt Carthy has called on the meat industry to stop wasting time and money in the courts and to instead engage with farmers and address their concerns.
Carthy also called on Agriculture Minister Michael Creed to intervene to ensure meaningful talks begins as soon as possible and that he demand that the industry halt their unhelpful legal actions.
Speaking as meat companies continue to seek enforcement orders for injunctions against farmers who are picketing their factories Mr Carthy said;
“The meat industry needs to back off the farmers who are simply trying to protect their livelihoods. The prospect of farmers being jailed for protesting for better conditions is akin to imprisoning other workers for going on strike – those days should be over.
“Instead of wasting time and money in the courts the meat companies should instead engage with farmers and address their concerns in a meaningful manner.
“Minister Creed should intervene immediately and ensure that meaningful talks, that address the core issue of the price paid to farmers for their cattle, begin as soon as possible. By all accounts the previous talks process was farcical – we need a process that addresses the lack of transparency, the un-competitive practices and the arbitrary rules of the factories. The end result must be a better price system for our primary producers.”
ENDS
