Photo: Supplied
An Otatara man thought to be New Zealand's longest-serving meat worker retired this month after 64 years in the industry.
Ken McLeod, 80, started in 1962 when he was only 16 at the now-closed Makarewa Meatworks in Southland.
"I was mostly a boner in all those years, and thanks to the Meat Workers Union we got very good money," he told Morning Report on Friday.
"The money set me up for life and did everything else, and I've travelled a lot. I just enjoyed the good money and the hard work involved."
He rarely took sick days, and worked his way up to boner, his favourite of the jobs. In the mid-1960s, when he was still a teenager, he was bringing home the modern equivalent of up to $4000 a week.
"I felt like I'd robbed a bank," McLeod laughed.
"I saw a lot of people waste it. An old fellow who had worked in the works for years, he said, 'Save half your pay and play out the rest, because he said, you'll find it'll be out.' And that's what I did."
As the technology changed, so did the work - not to mention the conditions.
"I know this sounds horrible, but when I first started boning, I was 20 and we only changed clothes twice a week because they had to send the laundry into town or something like that.
"But then a couple of years later, they actually built a laundry and then we changed our laundry every day, which was what it has been ever since."
Photo: Supplied
An early computer brought in to handle payroll was unable to handle the wages - McLeod saying their pay packets had to be split in two because the amounts were too high for the machine to handle.
"We used to laugh, and they had to give us a pay worth gross of £100, and then another one of £20 or £30."
McLeod eventually ended up at Blue Sky Pastures in 1988, where he has worked ever since. He also rose to become president of the Meat Workers Union.
But preparing meat was not what he originally intended to do with his life.
"I really wanted to join the Army and go to Vietnam, but… my mother wouldn't sign the papers because you had to have your parents' consent... I was only 20 at the time.
"But in hindsight it was the best thing because three or four years later I met my wife and I've been happily married for 56 years and [had] two lovely girls and they're happily married and gave us four lovely grandchildren. So I've been very lucky in that respect."
Photo: Supplied
While the tough physical work has taken its toll McLeod has no plans to slow down, and intends to spend his retirement staying active with walking, fishing, deer hunting and maintaining his house.
While sheep farming is not what it once was in New Zealand, McLeod predicts a comeback.
"When I started there was 70 million sheep in New Zealand. Now there's only about 23 or 25 [million]. There's been massive changes, in Southland three of the big works have all closed down... they've all closed and there's only the big Alliance works with four chains left...
"But there is hopefully a revival of sheep meat because the price for lamb this year is very good and wool's actually gone up in price, so there may be a swing back to more sheep farming and hopefully there is."
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
