Danish Crown Workers Invest in Pig Production to Save Jobs

In a ground breaking move slaughterhouse workers at Danish Crown in Denmark are to invest pay in pig production in a bid to reverse the drop in the number of jobs at the company slaughterhouses.

The intention is to re-establish pig production among the company members, who supply the Danish Crown slaughterhouses and in the process boost slaughterhouse jobs.

The idea has been put forward by the committee of union representatives in Danish Crown and will see DKK600 million invested over the next four years.

"It is a ground-breaking proposal which must, of course, be submitted to all our colleagues for a vote,” said Lars Mose, chairman of the committee of union representatives in Danish Crown.

“However, the trend, which we have now been witnessing for several years has also been quite drastic in terms of the number of colleagues we have at the pig slaughterhouses in Denmark. We want to reverse this trend. This is all about our jobs,"

The initiative was taken by the committee of union representatives, and the proposal has been negotiated with the management of the group’s pork division, DC Pork. "This is an admirable and very responsible step by the committee of union representatives," said CEO of DC Pork Jesper Friis.

At Europe’s other major pig and meat processing company, VION Foods, the consolidation and reorganisation is continuing.

In Germany, VION is to close and divest itself of some of its smaller slaughterhouses and processing plants and concentrate pork production by strengthening its major regional sites.

Under the new company set-up, the slaughterhouses and meat cutting plants in Emstek and Zeven in the German federal state of Lower Saxony and in Perleberg in the federal state of Brandenburg will occupy a central position.

As part of this restructuring operation, VION Food intends to close its branches in Kasel-Golzig (VION Lausitz GmbH) and Minden (Atlas-Handelsgesellschaft mbH).

These two slaughterhouses each process 5,000 pigs a week.

In future, the Minden suppliers will deliver to VION's Emstek and Zeven sites, while Perleberg and Altenburg will serve the producers who used to deliver to VION Lausitz.

VION Food said it has decided to implement this restructuring operation in order to further secure the company's strong roots within the regional agricultural sector.

In the US, a leading shareholder in pig meat processing giant Smithfield Foods is calling on shareholders to vote against the proposed merger with Chinese processor Shuanghui International to give time for an alternative offer to be put forward.

The move comes just days before Smithfield is due to report its latest quarterly trading figures to the market.

The shareholder, Jeffrey Smith, Managing Member, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer of hedge fund, Starboard Value is reported to be close to finding an alternative buyer for the company, which will offer a higher price than Shuanghui International Holdings Limited.

Mr Smith has sent a letter to fellow Smithfield shareholders, explaining that his company is in discussion with a group of buyers to offer an alternative higher acquisition price for the world's largest pork processor and pig producer.