Roughly 800 workers at a Teys Australia meat processing plant went on strike to protest a 20 percent pay cut, according to local news reports.
Teys Australia is a Cargill joint venture that operates six beef-processing plants across Australia's Eastern seaboard, according to the company's website. The company also operates two feedlots. It is the second largest meat processor in Australia.
It was the second strike in a week following a four-hour work stoppage, according to news reports. The company has said it would close the plant unless workers accepted the pay cuts and higher workloads. Brad Teys, CEO of Teys Australia, was quoted as saying the company could no longer sustain "outdated and unrealistic employment terms" that made the processor uncompetitive.
"Manufacturing in Australia has to really reinvent itself to become viable in the future," Teys said.
