UPDATE: 04/06/2014 – 

Bornholm slaughterhouse saved

Danish Crown's slaughterhouse on the island of Bornholm has been recued. The company, union NNF, employees and the commerce ministry have agreed to a plan to save the facility and the 200 jobs it provides.

Original story –

Lobbying group Dansk Industri and union NNF agreed last night to hold off throwing a switch that would shut down the Danish Crown slaughterhouse on the island of Bornholm. Additional options have appeared over the past few days that may salvage the workplace and its 190 jobs. Danish Crown had originally set the deadline for a settlement at 9am this morning, but they have agreed to postpone that decision until the latest proposals can be explored.

“It is important that we are completely satisfied that every possibility to save the 190 jobs is examined,” Pork Jesper Friis, the head of Danish Crown Pork, told DR Nyheder.

The timeframe of the extended negotiating period has not been spelled out, but the parties expect to have a final statement ready within days.

“We are fully aware that it prolongs the period of uncertainty for the employees on the island, but if it means that jobs can be saved, it is the best choice,” said Friis.

The eight percent solution
Workers, pig producers and island leaders have been working for five months to find the 25 million kroner in yearly cuts that Danish Crown said it needed to keep the facility open. The company said that most of the savings had been achieved, but the union's refusal to accept an eight percent pay cut placed the entire plan in the dustbin.

Slaughterhouse workers had agreed to salary cuts, provided that the money was put into a fund for investments and that they would get the money back at some point. Danish Crown balked at the repayment plan.

The slaughterhouse is Bornholm's largest workplace, with about 190 employees, and residents fear that its closure would lead to other job losses on the island.