Media Release: National Distribution Union Tuesday December 14, 2010

Redundancies announced as economic outlook worsens

Today's worsening economic outlook will be felt especially hard in Kawerau, where 26 sawmill workers have just been told they are to lose their jobs.

The redundancies are at Carter Holt Harvey Woodproducts Kawerau Sawmill, said the National Distribution Union (NDU), which represents the workers at the mill.

"Today's announcement reflects what we are hearing throughout the wood processing industry, that the post-recession optimism is rapidly turning back into pessimism," NDU General Secretary Robert Reid said.

"Most of the workers being laid off had only been employed by the mill over the last year."

"The high New Zealand dollar is being quoted throughout the wood industry as being a real problem."

"Yet we have a government that pursues a monetary policy that continues to price New Zealand goods off the global market."

"The government seems to have no interest in New Zealand jobs. Today's redundancies, on the top of Prime Sawmill in Gisborne announcing its mothballing today, and news that Dunedin's Hillside railway workers were shut out of making 300 wagons, reflects an economy going backward under a hands-off, do-nothing government," Robert Reid said.

NDU Organiser and Apiha Maori Rawiri Daniels said that following consultation with the union, affected workers were given the bad news this afternoon at 2.00 pm, and the announcement was made to the rest of the site at 3.30pm.

"Kawerau already has a high level of unemployment in general and Maori unemployment in particular. This is terrible news for these workers and the Eastern Bay of Plenty region, just on Christmas," Rawiri Daniels.

"As a result of the redundancies an entire shift on the dry mill is being discontinued," he said.

Ends.

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