Yesterday, Meatworkers union national secretary Graham Cooke confirmed the union was in negotiations with another southern-based company, Alliance Group, and North Island-based AFFCO, as well as Silver Fern Farms.
Alliance Group's agreement expired at the end of February, while AFFCO's agreement expired at the end of December last year, the same time as Silver Fern Farms.
Negotiations were more advanced with Silver Fern Farms than the other two, as their negotiations had only just started, Mr Cooke said.
AFFCO was having more talks today and, at this stage, he was not able to say what the union was seeking and what was being offered by both AFFCO and Alliance Group.
The Silver Fern Farms situation was ''a little bit different'' because the company had said it was not prepared to offer any more than a nil wage offer in the first year, and the other two companies ''haven't done that'', he said.
The union was seeking 3% plus 3% over two years and Silver Fern Farms was offering the status quo and 2%.
