800 jobs to go in Electricorp restructuring

Press, 12 September 1987, Page 6

800 jobs to go in Electricorp restructuring

By

DAVE WILSON

The Electricity Corporation yesterday unveiled plans to shed 800 staff members, 225 of them in the Christchurch region, in a restructuring plan aimed at saving the corporation about $5O million a year.

The restructuring plan, which has been in development since Febru-. ary, aimed to avoid compulsory redundancies, said the corporation’s corporate relations manager, Dr Judith Aitken, last evening. It was hoped that voluntary early retirement, natural attrition and perhaps voluntary severance packages would achieve the intended staff reduction, from the present 5700 throughout New Zealand to the 4900 positions intended in the new company structure.

In the Christchurch region, which covers the upper half of the South Island, the staff cuts will come in the marketing and designpowerbuild divisions. The marketing division, at present employing 618 staff in the region, will be cut by 190 to 428 staff. The designpowerbuild division, at present employing 182 staff members, will lose 35. Another 50 jobs will be lost in the production division in Dunedin, while in Southland the corporation intends to increase the existing 240 staff by another 20 positions. Dr Aitken said the

annual saving of about $5O million was a “ballpark figure," and Electricorp hoped to have the reduction achieved by early next year. Explaining the reasons for staff cuts, Dr Aitken said the costs of power supply had been reviewed over the last year and fuel and labour had been examined with special care.

“If the wholesale price of electricity is to be kept down, costs must be reduced," she said.

“The price cannot be restrained if there are too many staff. The cost of retaining 800 surplus jobs is not acceptable to the corporation and would have to be passed on to the consumer.”

Electricorp intended putting in place expensive job-search programmes to help staff affected. “We will try to help people if they have to relocate to find new work. We will be helping staff wishing to set up their own business ventures or co-operatives. Advice and expertise will be available to them.”

The corporation was determined not to sack anyone just because their previous job was no

longer available.

“We will be generous and thoughtful. There is no absolute deadline for the new staff structure.”

The corporation became aware about two weeks ago that its stream-, lining would mean a total staff reduction of 800. The corporation yesterday met representatives of the Public Service Association and further meetings are planned. The P.S.A. would organise urgent meetings of its Electricorp members, said the association’s vicepresident, Mr Colin Feslier.

“We will be examining the details on a work-place-by-workplace basis to ensure that the job losses proposed are necessary,” he said. “The association does not accept that the corporation has the unilateral right to cut staff levels and push workers to a point where safety standards and the health of employees are placed in jeopardy. “We cannot accept that with a corporation so vast and with labour costs such a small proportion of revenue that there will be compulsory redundancies.”