Plastic card factory pulls plug on 50 Christchurch jobs

About 50 workers in Christchurch are set to lose their jobs after a plastic card manufacturer proposed moving operations offshore to Australia.

ABCorp NZ has told workers about plans to close the company’s plastic card manufacturing plant in Halwyn Drive, Hornby, by the end of March, after a three-week consultation.

E tu¯ spokesman Joe Gallagher said the workers were shocked by the news. Efforts to contact company executives were unsuccessful, with no phone numbers available on the ABCorp NZ website.

Gallagher said it was unclear what consultation would mean.

The bad news had been delivered by company executive Gregoire Maes, who travelled from Australia to deliver the message.

While a final decision has not yet been made, the future did not look good, Gallagher said.

‘‘It’s really come out of the blue for them and the short consultation period makes us think that the company’s mind is made up.’’

Gallagher said the lease on the old factory was due to expire and the company was not prepared to reinvest in equipment or property.

‘‘Most people will have cards in their wallet that were made at this site. They produce bank cards, ID [identification] cards, loyalty cards and a lot more.

‘‘It’s a real shame that these good Kiwi-made products are just the next product to have production moved offshore.’’

He said that while the company may offer employment at other sites, it would be unrealistic for most workers.

‘‘Families can’t just up and move to New South Wales,’’ Gallagher said.

‘‘The company has indicated that they may help people find other jobs – we expect them to take the commitment very seriously.’’

Gallagher said these and other jobs could be saved by the Government taking a better look at local procurement, particularly as the closure came after the company had lost several local contracts.

‘‘Our new Government has made a strong commitment to New Zealand workers and their families. We’d like to see a Governmentled commitment to local procurement in manufacturing and, in fact, across all industries.’’

The last published accounts of ABCorp NZ show that in 2016 it had revenue of $41.2 million and a loss of $478,773.

Expenses included $10m in employee wages. There was no dividend to the owners.