THE POSSIBILITY of a meat inspectors strike in early December threatens to cause havoc with the pre Christmas kill in Scotland’s abattoirs. The dispute is between the Meat Hygiene Service, responsible to the Food standards agency and its employees represented by the trade union Unison, writes Ewan Pate, farming editor.

The disagreement which has rumbled through most of this year concerns proposed changes to MHS procedures designed to increase efficiency but which the meat inspectors regard as an unacceptable change in terms of employment.

The threatened strike by meat inspectors will impose a huge penalty on abattoir owners and their staff but will not cost the inspectors’ employers a penny according to the Scottish Association of Meat Wholesalers (SAMW)

“It’s a crazy situation in which our members and their staff stand to lose out badly, without having any authority to even talk to inspectors about their concerns,” said Allan Jess, SAMW president.

“We are innocent bystanders in this dispute, as are the farmers whose stock we won’t be able to handle if the strike goes ahead.

“It’s imperative that the inspectors and their employers negotiate together now at every opportunity to reach an understanding or resolution before positions become entrenched and relationships are damaged irrevocably.

“I also wish to make it absolutely clear that we have no axe to grind concerning this issue and that, contrary to recent reports, our members have never expressed a wish to directly employ any inspector. All such reported claims, in fact, are comprehensively false.”

Meat inspectors are directly employed by the MHS, who in turn administer the in-plant inspection of UK abattoirs. SAMW, along with other meat sector bodies, have been engaged in long and detailed negotiations with MHS throughout this year in preparation for the creation of the so-called Transformed MHS (TMHS).

“We’ve made our views crystal clear on MHS and the planned TMHS on many occasions this year,” said Mr Jess. “Our current position is that we believe progress is being made towards the acceptable creation of TMHS.

“We would hope that such progress will include close negotiations between THMS and the people they employ so that the inspection service, for which we pay, will be truly transformed and greatly enhanced in the future.”

Returning to the strike threat, Mr Jess added that the last time inspectors withdrew their labour, in 2005, meat industry operators received absolutely no compensation for lost earnings or for any other disruption to their trade.

This time round, it is conservatively estimated that cattle abattoirs alone in Scotland would incur costs of £1.3 million during the strike period without any way of generating income to cover those costs. At the same time, the 2600 people employed in the industry in Scotland will lose around £210,000 in wages.

“Without seeking to make any judgments concerning who is right and who is wrong in the UNISON/MHS dispute, we would ask both parties to urgently seek a solution which doesn’t involve the whole meat chain,” said Mr Jess.

It is understood that the proposed strike dates are for three days commencing on December 2 or three days in the following week. These are some of the busiest weeks of the year as wholesalers stock up for the Christmas and New Year trade.