Building consents sound a warning bell over jobs, sawmills

Media release: FIRST Union
Tuesday January 31, 2012

Building consents sound a warning bell over jobs and sawmills

Building work needs to pick up to keep workers in employment and ensure local sawmills stay in business, a union for wood processing workers said today.

Building consents data for the 2011 calendar year out this morning shows a decline in residential and non residential building consents from the previous year, despite a small pick up in December

It was also announced today that after cutting staff numbers from 53 to 5, NZ Sawn Products’ sawmill in Fielding is now up for sale.

“Today’s news is bad for both workers and wood processors,” said Robert Reid, General Secretary of FIRST Union (formerly NDU).

“A healthy construction industry helps keep workers in construction jobs and ensures that New Zealand’s wood processing industry has a market for its goods, in addition to its exported products.”

“We are still not reassured that New Zealand has enough wood processing capacity to fill the demand which will come from the Canterbury rebuild over the next few years.”

“It would be a travesty if Canterbury were to be rebuilt using Chilean and Canadian timber, while local sawmills lay off workers and downsize.”

“We need stronger leadership from the government to ensure the survival of the wood processing industry, including a more strategic approach to procurement for the Canterbury rebuild and looking at a lower domestic log price to enable wood processors to manufacture in New Zealand.”

FIRST Union represents 28,000 workers including 1,600 in wood processing.

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