Nelson Pine layoffs a blow to region

March 5, 2009
Joint Media Release

Nelson Pine layoffs a blow to region

Nelson Pine’s announcement that it plans to shed 60 jobs is a further blow to a region already reeling from job losses at Sealord, say the Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union and the National Distribution Union.

The announcement was made this afternoon and is being blamed on falling demand in international markets.

NDU southern regional secretary Paul Watson says: “We will be working as hard as we can to ensure everything possible is done to save every job possible.

“Now is the time to roll out some of the ‘innovative solutions’ talked about at the Jobs Summit.”

EPMU national timber industry organiser Alan Clarence says the redundancies are a sign the global recession is starting to have a local impact.

“The timber industry relies heavily on the international building industry but the global recession means that market is drying up and there’s falling local demand as well.

“We will be consulting with the company over the next few weeks to try to mitigate the impact of this announcement.”

The EPMU and NDU represent 160 workers at Nelson Pine.

ENDS.

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