Woolworths suspends dealings with meat supplier over claims Covid-positive staff ‘forced to work’

Woolworths has cut off one of its key meat suppliers based in South Australia over claims its Covid-positive staff were “forced to work”.

Woolworths has temporarily suspended dealings with one of its key meat suppliers over concerns that abattoir staff members were working while Covid-positive.

The South Australian branch of Teys Australia, located near Naracoorte, came under scrutiny over the weekend following reports that staff were processing beef while infected with Covid-19 from Monday through to Thursday.

At least 140 of its nearly 400 staff members had Covid-19 in that time, according to The Guardian.

The abattoir employees were allowed to work as long as they were asymptomatic under an exemption to public health orders because they were deemed essential workers.

News.com.au understands the Covid-positive workers were brought in as the facility needed to process a large amount of meat that otherwise would have gone to waste.

So prolific was the virus among staff members that they were required to wear different coloured hair nets to differentiate between infected and healthy employees. Those who tested positive to the virus wore white hairnets while Covid-free workers had yellow hairnets.

Anonymous workers complained about the “demeaning” hairnet requirements and were also fearful of having to share toilets and common spaces with their Covid-positive colleagues, sparking outrage from unions.

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Teys Australia meat processsing branch in Naracoorte, South Australia. Picture: ABC News

Australian Council of Trade Unions president Michele O’Neil said on Saturday: “Woolworths is turning a blind eye to the exploitation of workers by a major food supplier in the supermarket’s supply chain … who are forcing workers to continue turning up for work even though they are infected.”

Michael Kaine, national secretary of the TWU, also slammed the move.

“Supply chain accountability is not optional,” he wrote.

“The buck stops with those at the top. That means you Woolworths. Act now to stop any worker supporting your business from being forced – or even asked – to work while Covid-positive.”

Late on Sunday, Woolworths indefinitely suspended dealings with the South Australian branch of the meat supplier.

It’s understood the beef processed at the South Australian plant is dispersed to Woolworths stores nationally.

Woolworths was experiencing difficulty stocking its meat shelves even before suspending dealings with Teys. Picture: David Crosling

Teys Australia rejected the claims that they were forcing work upon sick employees and said everything was within the bounds of public health orders.

In a statement to news.com.au, a spokesperson said: “Teys Australia works strictly according to the requirements of the relevant health authorities. We continue to work closely and responsively with health departments across several States.”

None of their staff members have tested positive in the last seven days, the beef processor assured news.com.au.

“SA Health has approved a limited return to work for asymptomatic individuals in roles critical to maintain supply, on the condition those individuals are feeling well and have isolated for seven days,” the meat supplier continued.

“If they meet these conditions, they must still be separated from other workers until 10 days after their diagnosis …

“No worker has been, or will be, forced to work if they are unwell. In fact, we are specifically instructing our workers not to present for work if they feel unwell or they do not meet the strict requirements of the relevant State health authorities.”

Woolworths came down hard on the meat supplier over the allegations of unsafe work. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Nikki Short

Woolworths has said it was halting arrangements with the South Australian abattoir until it understood more about the working conditions at the abattoir and how safe it was.

“We have temporarily suspended all supply through Teys’ South Australian facility while we work with Teys, SA Health and SafeWork SA to understand the protocols currently in place for their team and operations,” a Woolworths spokesperson told news.com.au.

“We were not involved in the decision approved by SA Health to introduce exceptional temporary Covid measures at the site last week.”

Although major supermarket stores including Woolworths have been struggling to fill their shelves amid supply chain issues prompted by the Covid-19 pandemic, the grocery giant was confident the suspension wouldn’t drastically impact on its beef supply for customers.

“We continue to work with a number of other sites and partners across the country to supply Australian meat to our customers, moving as much stock through the supply chain as possible during the current disruptions,” the spokesperson continued.

“We expect all of our suppliers to adhere to the Covid safety protocols set by their relevant state authorities.”