Meatworks set to axe 200 jobs at Waipukurau
As many as 200 meatworkers in central Hawke's Bay face redundancy as Ovation New Zealand Ltd proposes to relocate its Waipukurau boning room operations to Feilding.
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As many as 200 meatworkers in central Hawke's Bay face redundancy as Ovation New Zealand Ltd proposes to relocate its Waipukurau boning room operations to Feilding.
The company would keep a scaled down storage and logistics operation at Waipukurau.
But the people losing jobs are expected to include up to 160 workers from the local area.
The Waipukurau plant was lauded as a major advance when it was opened in 1985 as a joint venture between Meat Board and English company Bernard Mathews, to produce lamb roasts for export.
Managing director Willem Sandberg said a drop of more than 50 percent in the national lamb kill during the past 25 years meant there were no longer enough lamb carcasses to keep economic throughputs at the Hawke's Bay plant.
Operations manager Alistair Bayliss said the lamb kill had fallen 25 percent during the past three years, and processing the available lambs at a more modern plant near Feilding would cost less.
Workers prepared to move are expected to be offered work at the company's plants in Feilding and Gisborne, but Central Hawke's Bay mayor Peter Butler said the closure was a major blow not only for workers: local businesses will lose spending of up to $7 million a year.
Mr Butler said he was disappointed by the news but, as a local farmer, he could understand the economic factors driving the proposal.
Meatworkers Union area organiser Eric Mischefski said many workers had foreseen the closure as livestock numbers in the region dropped.
NZPA
Fri, 17 Jun 2011
Fri, 17 Jun 2011
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Meatworks set to axe 200 jobs at Waipukurau
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