Clothes factory to close

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33684, 6 November 1974, Page 22

Clothes factory to close

(New Zealand Press Association)

AUCKLAND, November 5.

One hundred and twenty clothing workers, most of them part-time, will lose their jobs when Bendon Berlei, Ltd, closes its factory in Papatoetoe later this month.

Mr M. B. Sheffield, the company’s financial director, said the closing was purely because the company could not get enough staff.

“The factory was- designed to have a staff of 250,” he said, “but at present we have 120 workers, of whom about 20 work only half a week and 60 more are only part-timers. It just isn’t possible for us to continue operating that way.” The secretary of the Clothing Workers’ Federation (Mr F. B. Thorn) said tonight he had been advised of two further factories closing and others cutting out the twilight shift, laying off outworkers, or not replacing staff. “It looks,” he said, “as though we are into the recession, and it looks as though it is hitting the clothing industry first. “The situation that is developing is extremely serious, and it is one which we in 'the union are going to have to look at very carefully. “In Australia nearly a third of the clothing workers nave

gone because of the recession there, and we don’t want to have that sort of thing happening here.” Mr Thom said he was very concerned to read of the Textile and Garment Manufacturers’s Council talking of transferring factories to the Islands.

“Tm all in favour of helping to build up industry in Fiji or the Cook Islands,” he said, “but not if as a result we get large-scale unemployment among our clothing workers in New Zealand. “I want to warn the employers that if they try to flood this country with cheap garments made in the Islands we will take action to protect the jobs of our members.

"If necessary, I will be calling on the trade union movement as a whole to take action to make it impossible for any such consignments to land in this country,” said Mr Thorn.

Bowls.— More than 4700 bowlers have entered the Dominion tournament in Wellington from December 27 to January 9. The fours, traditionally the most popular event, has attracted 1848 entries, nearly 200 more than in 1970.