Workscorp redundancies now up to 62

Press, 7 September 1989, Page 1

Workscorp redundancies now up to 62

By

CULLEN SMITH

Fourteen members of the Workers’ Union will join 48 Canterbury Works and Development Services Corporation staff who are losing their jobs in phased lay-offs. Workscorp has confirmed the 62 redundancies, blaming a falloff in business on a loss of irrigation contracts and a downturn in the heavy engineering and construction industries.

The national secretary of the Workers’ Union, Mr Dan Duggan,

criticised the corporation yesterday for axing the jobs of 100 of his members since March after returning a $16.4 million aftertax profit in its first commercial year. Mr Duggan said the 14 Christchurch workers included tradespeople and labourers at workscorp’s Sockburn fabrication plant. “We’re totally against it. We believe the corporation is being a bit hasty,” he said. “For the corporation to be shedding people to maintain

profitability when they already made $l6 million in the last year is just not on.”

It was impossible to change a Government department into a corporation overnight, he said. Workscorp was required Lto -

switch from a service organisation mentality to an aggressive marketing philosophy, which took time.

Heralding its $16.4 million profit and $6.8 million dividend to the Government, the Workscorp annual report for

1988-89 said it had achieved a great deal in its short time as a State-owned enterprise.

But the corporation chairman, Mr John Cameron, said that transition into “an already depressed and crowded marketplace” must be handled with great care.

“We need to ensure that our greatest asset — our people and their valuable technical skills and experience — are not lost to the corporation or to New Zealand,” he said.