Brooklyn

Other Names

Current Operation

• Operational as at 13.11.2013
• Establishment #0688²
• Export accredited abattoir processing Beef, Sheep, Goat and Offal.²

Location   

• Brooklyn is located 14km from Melbourne’s CBD¹
  

Hema Maps – Australia Truckies atlas.

Owner

• JBS Australia¹
• Abattoirs owned by JBS in Tasmania
  • Devonport abattoir (Tas) (2008) – another multi species abattoir.
  • Longford (Tas)
  • King Island abattoir (Tas) (2008) – closed in 2012.
• Abattoirs owned by JBS Queensland.
  • Townsville (QLD)
  • Rockhampton (QLD)
  • Dinmore abattoir (QLD)
  • Riverview (QLD)
  • Toowoomba (QLD) – more commonly known as Beef City
• Abattoirs owned by JBS in Victoria
  • Brooklyn (Vic)
  • Cobram (Vic)
• Abattoirs owned by JBS in New South Wales
  • Yanco (NSW)
• Abattoirs owned by JBS in South Australia
  • Bordertown (SA)

Operation   

• Establishment #688¹
• Beef – grass and grain fed¹
• lamb, hogget, mutton & veal¹
• Employees – 688¹
• Processes 5,200 daily¹
• Largest multis species processing facility in southern hemisphere¹

History

2001

• June. Fire had gutted the plant³

2002

• March. SBA foods sell to Tasman Group Services, new trading name Belandra Pty Ltd.³
  • Brooklyn export abattoir operated in conjunction with Westgate coolstores
  • $25M deal included purchase with Longord abattoir (Tas) and King Island abattoir (Tas) mothballed Altona meatworks in Melbourne west and 8,000 head Yambinya feedlot at Wakool near Deniliquin NSW.³
• Brooklyn facility still in reasonable condition, efforts to re-open had failed but SBA has spent $10M on the beef slaughter chain, chiller and boning facilities in the past 4 years.³

2005

• June. Trade halted on export of meat to Malaysia over doubts concerning halal status of Australian meat⁶

2006

• January. Market access to Malaysia suspended⁷
  • Malaysians concerned that pneumatic stunning and use of the thoracic stick (Used to speed up bleeding of carcase) were being used to speed killing process.⁷
• April. Brooklyn receives Halal approval from Malaysian Islamic Development department.⁶
  • AQIS allow milder level of eclectrical stunning and thoracic stick at least 2 minutes after slaughter⁷
  • Grantham abattoir (QLD) and Wodonga abattoir (Vic) also gained approval⁷
  • Kilcoy abattoir (QLD), Longford abattoir (Tas) failed the accreditation tests.⁷

2008

• JBS buy Tasman group Longford abattoir (Tas) , King Island abattoir (Tas) and Devonport abattoir (Tas) and three plants in Victoria, 1,800 workers at the six plants.⁴

2010

• December. JBS Swift locked out cold storage workers under the Labor workplace relations regulations.⁴
  • Workers had rejected a proposed new enterprise agreement⁴
  • JBS offered wage adjustment 2% a year over 2 years⁴
  • Shifts increase from 8 hrs to between 9.5-12.6hrs affecting workers overtime and weekend penalty rates⁴
  • Union claim its a real wage cut given rate of inflation
  • Mostly immigrant workers striking granted a one-of payment of $250 and not normal wage on strike time, payable when picket disbanded.⁴
  • Union shut down picket on December 22 to revive on January 4⁴
• Work had continued at the plant with workers flown in from QLD and others sourced from a labour hire agency⁴

2012

• JBS Australia split into two operating entities to make Northern and Southern regions in relation to abattoirs and feedlots within those areas⁸.
  • South – Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania⁸
  • North – NSW and QLD.⁸

2013

• February. Received carbon abatement grant $212,512 towards equipment replacement worth $425,000⁵
  • replace boiler network with a higher efficency boiler and heat exchanger.⁵
  • Expect to reduce carbon emissions by 35%, saving $60,000 in energy costs per year⁵

2014

 

• July. JBS Australia across all facilities in operation kills daily⁸
  • 8,500 cattle,⁸
  • 24,000 smalls – which includes lambs⁸
  • Employs more than 8,000 people⁸

 

Sources

1. ‘Our Plants – Brooklyn’ http://www.jbsswift.com.au Accessed 13.11.2013
2. Aus meat List 28.02.2014
3. ‘SBA foods sells to Tasman groups services’ Stock and Land. 19.03.2002
4. ‘Australia: Union shuts down picket of locked out meatworkers’ http://www.wsws.org 28.12.10
5. ‘Teys, T & R in latest round of carbon abatement grants’ Beef Central 18.02.13
6. Headlines for week ending 21.04.06 http://www.profarmer.com.au.
7. ‘Abattoirs supply Malaysia again’ Farm Weekly, 19.04.2006
8. ‘The next Swift shift’ The Weekly Times. 30.07.2014