Sixty staff made redundant at the Graeme Lowe Otago fellmongery in Green Island last week have been invited to meet representatives of Silver Fern Farms today to discuss potential re-employment elsewhere in the meat industry.
The Otago-Southland branch of the New Zealand Meatworkers Union brokered the meeting, in conjunction with SFF.
It expected 40 to 60 former Lowe staff to attend, in Green Island at 9.30am, union representative Robbie Magee said yesterday when contacted.
In a shock announcement last week, when the 60 Lowe staff had expected news of a downsizing as opposed to outright closure, the fellmongery staff were made redundant immediately and operations ceased.
Lowe management last week said the Green Island site was closed because of a downturn in South Island stock numbers and increasing exports of preserved hides to China.
Mr Magee said SFF's Finegand plant, which employed 750 to 900 people at peak season, was the obvious plant to first consider.
It operated a fellmongery, he said, and workers' skills were "transferable" within the meat industry.
He was pleased Work and Income New Zealand had signalled it could offer a new employer staff retraining grants.
SFF chief executive Keith Cooper said there could be positions within SFF when the meat processing season started in a few months.
SFF recruitment staff could be at today's meeting, as firms laying off workers often notified companies within the industry.
The meat industry has struggled to find workers, but Mr Cooper said the shortage was not as acute last season as it had been previously.
