Engineers accept redundancy deal

Press, 24 April 1987, Page 6

Engineers accept redundancy deal

PA Hastings Redundancy payments giving workers with eight years service six months pay and those with 20 years service more than a year’s pay have been unanimously accepted by engineers’ union members at Wattle Foods, in Hastings. The redundancy deal is designed to encourage early retirement and voluntary severance for longer-serving employees. Watties’ industrial relations manager, Mr Ivan Poole, said more than 100 workers in Hastings had already made inquiries, about voluntary severance, and he hoped there would be minimum forced redundancy. V'A' ' ■■ Mr Poole said the company would formally call for voluntary, severance from Engineers’ Union

members in the next two days, with . redundancies to be effective from June 3 in Hastings. A basic deal of six weieks pay for the first year of service has been accepted, plus a bonus four weeks pay for job retention and two weeks for job search. Two weeks additional pay for each year of service up to 16 years is included in the package, with three weeks special •service pay from 16 to 19 years and four weeks pay for 20 years service or mdre. ■ , ' c * Long-service leave will be, paid, as will accrued sick leave up to 30 days, and staff buying privileges , will be retained for two years. The agreement will - be binding for two years and apply if any other redundancies are made affect-

ing the Engineers’ Union. The Hawke’s Bay Engineers’ Union district organiser, Mr Syd Brandwood, said the workers were “quite happy” with the deal. ; “There is no such thing as a good redundancy deal, but this is one of the better deals made recently in New Zealand,” Mr Brandwood said. “The company knew it had to make a good deal because it realised the hardship being caused in the area.” ,