The Fair Work Ombudsman has released the findings of its inquiry into allegations levelled at the Baiada Group over employment practices at its three poultry processing sites at Beresfield, Hanwood, and Tamworth in NSW.
An inquiry was launched in November, 2013, following complaints from plant workers that they were being underpaid, forced to work extremely long hours and required to pay high rents for overcrowded, and unsafe employee accommodation.
Similar allegations were also levelled at Baiada by the Australian Meat Industry Employees’ Union, local community groups and a report on ABC television’s Lateline program.
Baiada, the largest Australian-owned poultry processing company with a market share of more than 20 per cent, produces the Lilydale Select and Steggles chicken brands for customers including Coles, Woolworths, IGA, Aldi, McDonald’s, KFC, Pizza Hut, Red Rooster, Nando’s, and Subway.
Aussie Farmers Direct CEO, Keith Louie, said the retailer de-listed Lilydale chicken from its range on May 12 after Baiada failed to satisfactorily address key allegations over employment practices.
“We took no pleasure in our decision to stop buying chicken from Baiada, as we are passionate about supporting Australian farmers and growers,” Louie said.
“However, we expect our suppliers to act ethically and responsibly. And our customers shop with us because we do put purpose and principles before profit.
“Our customers were rightly concerned about the allegations levelled at Baiada, and have been very
supportive of our decision to no longer carry their products.”
Baiada refused permission for Fair Work inspectors working on the inquiry to access the factory floor at its worksites, denying them an opportunity to observe work practices, as well as talk to employees about conditions, policies and procedures.
Baiada also failed to provide the inquiry with any “significant or meaningful” documentation on the nature and terms of its labour contract arrangements.
However, the inquiry found that employees working at Baiada sites are not being paid their lawful entitlements. The company had verbal agreements with an extensive list of labour-hire operators used to source most of its workers, largely 417 working holiday visa-holders from Taiwan and Hong Kong.
Based on limited material provided, hundreds of thousands of dollars could not be accounted for as money moved through various hands down the company’s labour supply chain.
Over the course of the Baiada inquiry, Fair Work inspectors made numerous site visits to registered addresses of the various contractors, as well as attempting to make contact by email, fax and phone using both bilingual staff and interpreters.
The inquiry found that a large amount of work was performed “off the books”, as amounts paid to contractors did not correspond with the number of workers and wages allegedly paid to them.
The overseas workers were primarily recruited by sub-contractors through Chinese newspapers, Facebook or Taiwanese backpacker websites. The advertisements frequently asked applicants to respond with details of their nationality, height and weight and were potentially discriminatory.
