TIMBER MILL DISMISSALS

Press, Volume XCIV, Issue 28153, 17 December 1956, Page 7

TIMBER MILL DISMISSALS

ACTION AT WAIPA CONDEMNED WORK SOUGHT FOR 66 MEN fNew Zeaiana Press Association) AUCKLAND, December 16. fnrßntn?.?f rd iw member of Parliament . has sent telegrams to the Minister of Labour (Mr W Sulw d Master of Forest ♦hT protesting against wf; d®??} 5 ? 31 workers from the Waipa State timber mill The telegram to Mr Sullivan read: wSS2' S S., men . dlsm issed from the *, ai P%. state . null as from December These include 20 married men. Some have been employed at the mill lor j ears. Immediate action by your department to secure other employment is extremely urgent.” To the Minister of Forests, the following message was sent: “1 emphatiCT*>y protest at the dismissal or 66 men from the Waipa State mill and the reduction of operations to 4U hours a week. For the second time, the production of a profitable State enterprise is being reduced as the result of a deliberate Government policy. Is production of timber for export and domestic use by the Tasman Pulp and Paper Company being maintained? As the State holds a large investment in this enterprise. Tasman should share in any sacrifices made. Sustained production of the Waipa mill is vital to business and commerce in Rotorua.” Mr Boord said that the dismissal ot the men was attributable to several factors. First, there was the deliberate Government policy, published in the last report of the New Zealand Forest Service, reducing Waipa production “to lessen the impact of Tasman on both the domestic and export market.” “The local mill, which has given »uch good service during the war and post-war periods, is being sacrificed in order that the new enterprise may succeed.” said Mr Boord. Another factor which had affected the whole of the timber market had been the credit squeeze, he said. The removal of building controls would not materially assist the milling industry because controls had been mainly concerned with the construction of commercial buildings and the use of steel and concrete, rather than timber.