Unions fight for sacked 250

Press, 5 August 1978, Page 1

Unions fight for sacked 250

The Canterbury Trades Council will continue the fight to save the jobs of about 250 Aulsebrooks workers, who were told by their management yesterday that they would have to leave within the next three months. But it seems the trade union movement can do little to prevent the redundancies, and it may have difficulty stopping more workers from being laid off at the Christchurch factory after Christmas. The company had said it was not possible to continue production at present levels, said Mr W. R. Cameron, president of the Trades Council yesterday. "The Trades Council considers that, particularly in the light of the adverse emplovment situation in Christchurch, every effort should be made to retain all the jobs at Aulsebrooks and that the Govemment, local bodies and everyone in Christchurch should be concerned about the position,” said Mr Cameron.

Asked what the council could do to prevent the redundancies, Mr Cameron said: “We do not know what we can do, but we will explore all possible ways.”

It has managed to save about 60 jobs by getting the company to continue biscuit production for several months while the council tries to convince it that this production can be profitable. The company had intended to shut its two biscuit ovens and move pros duction to its Auckland factory, which has four ovens and is capable of meeting all New Zealand’s biscuit demands. Mr Cameron addressed a meeting of the workers, and afterwards he said that they were very worried. “They do not know at this stage who is going to be laid off. We told them we would do everything possible. We have already asked the Auckland Biscuit Workers’ Union to ensure that the company does not allow work tradit i o n a 1 1 y done in Christchurch to be performed in Auckland, and we have had this assurance from them. We are also seeking the support of the Auckland Trades Council,” said Mr Cameron.

About 30 workers would be given notice next week, and negotiations on redundancy for the other 220 would begin immediately.

said the chief executive of A.B. Consolidated Holdings, Ltd (Mr R. J. Binning). Mr Binning said that the company was getting out of the “rats and mice” confectionery lines such as jubes and boiled sweets, and concentrating on two lines — Mackintosh Toffees and Mackin* tosh Oddfellows. The future of the centu-ry-old building in St Asaph Street is in doubt. Mr Binning said it would go on the market some time within the next five years. The factory has a floor space of 22,300 square metres, on a site of about two hectares stretching from Montreal Street to Antigua Street, with a frontage on St Asaph Street. The chairman of directors is Mr B. R. Judge, a director of Brierley Investments, Ltd, which, with •■». S. Paterson and Company, Ltd, took over Aulsebrooks, Ltd, in 1976. He said yesterday he was confident that in the next three months the company would place the redundant workers in other jobs, with the help of the Department of Labour and the Trades Council.

On allegations that the

move represented “asset stripping” by Brierley Investments, Ltd, Mr Judge said that the company did not envisage any significant sale of assets. “But there will be a substantial write-off of assets that will no longer have commercial value. The loss to shareholders will be measured in millions of dollars.” Asked why the machinery had not been modernised earlier, Mr Judge said that profitability had not warranted it; the company would have had to spend SIM on the confectionery machinery. Ultimately the company hoped to set up a new confectionery unit in Christchurch: “We have given a written undertaking we would not shift the confectionery unit out of Christchurch. We want to put it on a profitable base,” said Mr Judge. Had it not been for the downturn of consumer demand, the company could have “got by.” Mr Judge said that the idea of seeking help from the Development Finance Corporation was “irrational” because the company wouk still have had to r?pay the loan. He also dismissed the value of a sugar beet industry in

Mid-Canterbury to replace Fijian cane sugar. Such a project might take 10 years to get under way, he said, and even then there was no guarantee the sugar would be any cheaper. Abolition of the 20 per cent Government sales tax on confectionery would have helped, but representations over the years had met no success. It is estimated that the Government receives about SIOM a year from the tax. For Aulsebrooks, that would mean an extra SI.SM on its confectionery' turnover of about S9M. ■ Figures given by the company showed that its biscuits had a turnover of about SI2M and confectionery S9M, but when the rationalisation of products was completed, confectionery turnover would be down to S2M. The company said that when it combined its Dunedin confectionery unit with the Christchurch unit in mid-1976, it spent more than $400,000 providing better working conditions and on production efficiencies. “If today’s market was even where it was five years ago in volume terms and there was some hope of modest growth, then

the company could seriously consider more expenditure. But with the full overheads of a threestorey factory, and present wage costs already causing a substantial weekly loss, any further expenditure would be unjustified,” the company said. Aulsebrooks, Ltd, was founded in 1863 and in 1961 merged with Bycroft, Ltd, of Auckland, to form A. B. Consolidated Holdings, Ltd. The company acquired Mackintosh Caley Phoenix, of Dunedin, and in 1975 acquired Dominion Snack Foods, Ltd, of Levin. In 1976 a take-over bid for the company resulted in A. S. Paterson and Company, and Brierley Investments, becoming the major shareholders, holding between them about 70 per cent of the shares. These shares represent the controlling interest in the company and are now held by a' company called Food Holdings, Ltd, which is owned 50 per cent each by Paterson and Brierley. Ordinary capital stands at $4,888,824, preference capital is $400,000, and total shareholders’ funds were $9,867,000 at June 30 last year.