Sawmill confirms Gisborne job cuts
Wood processing and forestry company JNL has confirmed it is going through with proposed job cuts at its East Coast mill.
The company initially proposed cutting 97 jobs and 60 workers have volunteered to take redundancy so far.
The cuts could see almost half the company’s workforce at the Gisborne mill go. The mill opened in 1994 and employs about 200 fulltime workers.
JNL general manager Dave Hilliard said yesterday that the final number of jobs to go wouldn’t be known for another two weeks.
‘‘There are around 100 roles impacted by the changes, but we anticipate that the final number of redundancies will be less than this,’’ he said.
Staff who have agreed to leave will be paid the redundancy pay provisions in their contracts, and those who have been there less for a year will be paid a minimum of six weeks pay and four weeks notice, Hilliard said.
He said it was a tough time for workers and their families but that it was ‘‘critical’’ that the business be consolidated to be sustainable.
‘‘We can only do this by making high-value products where we have a competitive advantage.’’
The company first told staff about the proposed cuts on January 23 as part of a move away from plywood, laminated veneer lumber and structural laminated veneer lumber production.
JNL said those parts of the business had been ‘‘operating at significant losses for a number of years’’, blaming a decline in demand from the Japanese housing market.
First Union and E tu¯ represented workers in negotiations.
Hilliard said the company carefully considered the unions’ feedback, including the suggestion to produce plywood for affordable housing, but said the required upgrade to equipment meant it was not a ‘‘viable solution’’.
First Union president Robert Reid said the company’s decision would have a ‘‘significant’’ impact on the region’s economy.