Meatworkers and animal libbers form alliance

By Russell Carr
TOWNSVILLE — I am the northern district organiser of the AMIEU (meatworkers union) and have written this article to explain the story of the struggle against live cattle exports in north Queensland. While our union has always been opposed to live animal export, we had not really been well organised here until earlier this year. On February 22 the union received a media release from the Australian Meat and Livestock Corporation which applauded the 53% increase in live cattle exports in one year up to 390,000 head of cattle. This was up from the 164,707 head of cattle for 1993. The union realised that the industry's expansion could put many Australians out of work.
On February 27, Smorgon Consolidated Industries announced the closure of the Ross River meatworks. This was a seasonal plant that worked about nine months per year and employed about 380 people, many of whom were long-term meatworkers, inadequately trained and too old to easily find other employment.
In its last year of operation, Ross River provided the 380 workers with employment killing 86,000 head of cattle. The projection that live cattle exports would reach 390,000 in 1995 made the union worry about the effect on employment.
It was then that the union first came into contact with the animal liberation movement via the vice president, Tony Clunies-Ross. From a well-attended public meeting on live animal exports, a committee of four meatworkers and two animal welfare members was formed.
The new group, Committee Against Live Export, elected Clunies-Ross as secretary. Since then, CALE has spearheaded the struggle to protect jobs and ease the suffering on the animals.
From the beginning, those supporting live exports reacted hysterically to the alliance between an animal welfare group and a trade union. Some union members were a bit sceptical at first, but have since come to respect the way Clunies-Ross has handled his position and the energy and common sense of the animal libbers we are involved with.
I clearly remember a phone call to my home at night by a person concerned with our "unholy alliance". He advised me that the good name and credibility of the AMIEU could be damaged by associating with a "lunatic fringe" political group like the animal liberationists. The caller, a current Queensland MLA and a long-term member of the Queensland National Party, had been part of the Bjelke-Petersen government. He is hardly in a position to give warnings about who to associate with!
Despite the efforts of some, the alliance forged in north Queensland has remained strong — and is spreading. The initiative has been followed in Victoria and West Australia, with CALE groups forming in those states.
Some of CALE's activities here include speaking at Labour Day marches and lobbying state and federal ALP and Democrat politicians. We have held public meetings, circulated a petition to the Senate and tried to use the media to raise public awareness about our concerns.
A major initiative was to run Clunies-Ross as a Green Party candidate in the Queensland election. He made opposition to live cattle export his major issue, along with many other environmental issues such as opposition to nuclear testing. Clunies-Ross obtained the second highest Green vote, just over 13% in the most secure Labour seat in Townsville.
The AMIEU remains committed to its struggle against live export in north Queensland primarily because of its cost to jobs and income. While the overall cattle herd in north Queensland has decreased slightly in the past five years, the number of cattle sent overseas has been increasing rapidly.
By exporting live cattle (nearly all yearlings under 300 kilograms) we are exporting our resources in their least valuable state. Many of the yearlings exported last year could have been processed as finished cattle this year. We are losing jobs and reducing the value of our exports.
If we process animals once they reach maturity, at over 550 kilograms, we increase the product value: chilled and frozen beef is worth far more per kilo than live cattle. We would also dramatically increase the value of our exports and create more jobs.
If the rapid increase in live cattle exports continues, more meatworks will go from north Queensland. The thing that stirs up rank and file meatworkers more than anything is the ALP government's involvement in supplying funds and technical skills to competitors. Meatworkers feel that their taxes should not be spent building meatworks and training personnel in other countries when the end result is that they will be out of a job.
The animal libbers oppose the trade on the grounds of cruelty and stress to the animals and the uncertainty of their welfare and slaughter in Asian countries. While animal libbers don't like cattle slaughter anywhere, they are pragmatic enough to know that, at least in Australia, transport and slaughter methods are monitored by the RSPCA and other bodies.
While both groups have a slightly different agenda, both are heading in the same direction. The coalition between the two remains strong, and a respect of each other's position has resulted in a strong and useful alliance.