Industry retrenchment discussed

Press, 24 April 1986, Page 3

Industry retrenchment discussed

Concerns about the retrenchment in industry were expressed by the Engineers’ Union, and manufacturing repre-

sentatives, to the Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr Caygill, at a meeting in Christchurch yesterday.

After the 45-minute meeting Mr Caygill said only that there had been “a useful exchange of views.” The meeting was organised by the union’s branch secretary, Mr Bob Todd. He said that he had asked the Minister to the meeting because of concern about job losses in the last two or three months. Mr Todd said that common factors in recent retrenchments were high interest rates, the level of the New Zealand dollar, and the relaxation by the Government of import protection. These factors had been discussed with Mr Caygill. “While it would be naive to expect any dramatic change in policy in the near future, at least the Minister is aware of the concern of this union and of the manufacturers, in Canterbury in particular,” said Mr Todd, who said he hoped there would be an ongoing dialogue. The director of the Canterbury Manufacturers’ Association, Mr lan Howell, said that a main concern of manufacturers at the moment was that the dollar had improved against other currencies. The association presented to the Minister its latest survey of business conditions. The survey, for March, showed that there was a continuing trend of a downturn in domestic and export sales, profitability, liquidity, and general confidence compared with 12 months ago. Mr Howell said that the. downturn was similar to that recorded in the February survey. There had not been any further “significant” deteriorations since the February survey.