Meat exporter lays off staff

Press, 28 March 1981, Page 19

Meat exporter lays off staff

PA Auckland An Auckland meat exporting firm — FMC Meat. Ltd, will cut its staff by almost 50 per cent. Thirteen workers — seven stock buyers and six office staff — will lose their jobs in the move, which FMC’s manager (Mr Richard Johanson) describes as "rationalisation.'’ He said that the company had decided to lake the action because the "cost of obtaining and servicing the product just was not match-

ing up with the market return.” He said that laying off the staff would not 'reduce the company's output by too much — it can continue buying through other sources but it would make the company a lot more "cost effective." "We feel we have reacted quickly to make sure we survive in this competitive world.” said Mr Johanson. But he emphasised that the company itself was in good shape.

"We arc not going out of business or anything like it,” he said. "This is just a way of pruning our costs.”

The 13 workers — who were told of their dismissals yesterday — will finish work at the end of April. NZPA reported from Gisborne that the Labour Party candidate for Gisborne (Mr Allan Wallbank) is out of a job because of the closing down of the New Zealand operations of F.M.C. Meat, the company for which he has worked during the past two vears.

Mr Wallbank said "it is not 1981. it's back to 1931." "That sort of news is a bolt out of the blue when you think you have safe and permanent employment,” he said.

"I was in the middle of delicate negotiations to increase our company's killing space.”