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The representative body for marts and co-ops is calling on the Government to relax the Organisation of Working Time Act to ensure that staff are available to cover for colleagues or farmers that have fallen ill and milk is collected from farms and processed.
The Irish Co-operative Organisation Society (ICOS) pointed out that dairy processors are approaching peak milk production and while it welcomed precautionary measures taken by co-ops as the coronavirus spreads, it said the Government still needed to relax the act to ensure milk was collected.
Illness
“In particular, workers may unfortunately be affected by illness, requiring them not to work, and many will also have additional childcare responsibilities,” ICOS president Jerry Long said.
“This could also require groups of workers to self-isolate and there needs to be flexibility in working arrangements to protect employment and also to ensure that milk will not have to be discarded.”
Long added that where any farm family was affected by the coronavirus, they should contact their co-op directly and the information would be treated in the strictest confidence.
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