NZFP wants 600 jobs to go

Press, 13 April 1989, Page 7

NZFP wants 600 jobs to go

PA Hamilton N.Z. Forest Products wants site unions to accept a proposal to reduce the Kinleith pulp and paper mill’s workforce by 600 during the next two to three years, a union advocate, Mr Alan Ware, said yesterday. He said the company dropped its staff-reduction bombshell during award negotiations in Hamilton on Tuesday. He described the company proposal as being of “momentous proportion.” As well as demanding a staff reduction of a third, the company also wanted contracting company employees on site to accept lower wages. In keeping with employer thoughts on stability during big construction projects, NZFP also wanted a 30-month “no disruption” clause included in the new award, he said. In a compromise, it is willing to negotiate an automatic wage escalation clause for the 30 months that a proposed $6OO million modernisation programme will last. While union negotiators were stunned by the 10-point claim, they were equally worried at the failure to settle the 1988-89 award after 12 months of meetings. Mr Ware said the stumbling block to settling the award for the present year was the coverage clause. In spite of repeated attempts to settle, the parties appeared to be stalemated.