![Abattoir worker payments ‘settled privately’ Abattoir worker payments ‘settled privately’](/images/transform/v1/resize/frm/storypad-HedE2JiNW3PzJH7CqTYen5/252ea58d-9768-4317-afd1-fd5eb027e64e.jpg/w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
A DISPUTE over Tamworth-based abattoir workers’ pay has been resolved, after a labour hire company paid eight employees an undisclosed amount.
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The Australian Meat Industry Employees’ Union (AMIEU) said “the matter has now been settled privately with the company”.
“While we cannot disclose the figures ... under the settlement agreement, we can confirm that Ananda has provided back pay to the AMIEU members who lodged the claim, and that the matter is now resolved,” a spokesman said.
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Sydney-based labour hire company Ananda Australia, which recruited the workers on behalf of lamb abattoir Thomas Foods International (TFI) Tamworth, was the subject of the union claim.
The union said the eight were casual workers who spoke only a little English and had been underpaid tens of thousands of dollars.
It said the workers believed they’d been classified wrongly and therefore were not being paid the correct amount of overtime.
Ananda Australia chief executive Ken Qin, when asked if he now conceded the workers had been underpaid, said “No … Based on my knowledge, Ananda Aust does not have underpaid issues.”
He did not respond to questions about why, then, the payments had been provided.
‘Isolated dispute’
TFI said in a statement that it “always seeks to act in good faith and provide the best possible conditions for workers across all our sites”.
“This was an isolated dispute between Ananda Pty Ltd and the AMIEU representing a small group of employees employed by Ananda Pty Ltd.
“We are informed that the matter was resolved privately and to the satisfaction of all parties involved.
“Following our own review, TFI was supportive of the labour hire agency Ananda settling those outstanding matters with its employees.
“We understand that this has occurred.
“TFI no longer engages Ananda and have instead made a decision to employ workers on 417 visas directly and on a casual basis.
“Some of the workers previously sourced through Ananda have been offered positions with TFI under this new arrangement.”