Good news in spite of mill closure

14 November, 2008

 

Workers at Carter Holt Harvey's Putaruru mill will be finishing up on December 12th but have all either taken early redundancy, secured jobs at the expanding plywood factory in Tokoroa or have had job offers from elsewhere in the district.

The announcement of the mill's closure made national headlines last month as a sign of the coming recession but efforts by the EPMU and the local community have ensured a good outcome for the 218 workers who faced redundancy.

EPMU organiser Red Middlemiss says everyone who wanted a job has got one. "We had fifty eight members take redundancy but there have also been a hundred and eighteen new jobs created at the nearby plywood mill after EPMU delegates there worked with the company to organise extra shifts to cover expansion."

"We've also managed to extend the Putaruru operations by more than a month to make sure our members get their Christmas stats and have money for the holidays," says Middlemiss, "there's also been dozens of job offers from the district as employers look to get good workers on board."

Union members at Putaruru had strong redundancy provisions in their collective agreement and a negotiated employer superannuation scheme which have helped ensure they are in a strong financial position despite the closure and there has been other help.

"We got Workbridge and budgeting services in pretty quickly," says Middlemiss, "and there's been a concerted effort by everyone to make sure we got the best possible outcome, this is a success story."