CEMENT TRADE SLACK.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21116, 25 February 1932, Page 13

CEMENT TRADE SLACK.

FORTY MEN DISMISSED. RETRENCHMENT AT PORTLAND. [BY TELEGRAPH.—OWN CORRESPONDENT.] WHANGAREI, Wednesday. Owing to slackness of orders, 40 employees at the Portland works of Wilsons (N.Z.) Portland Cement Company, Ltd., received notice last night of their dismissal. When the works are in full swing the number of men employed is between 260 and 300, but with the departure of (lie 40 men the number now stands at about 130, including inside staff. The company lias also dispensed with the services of the secretary of the welfare league. It has advised the management committee that in view of the present financial position it should be able to function without the services of a highly-paid official. Of the men whose services have been dispensed with, practically all are married. It is hoped that when trade sufficiently revives they will be re-employed, but the present prospects of a revival are not hopeful. The majority of the men affected reside in or near Whangarei, only a small proportion residing in the company's houses at Portland. The reduction in the number of men employed will not necessitate any reduction in the quantity of coal supplied to the works by the Wilson Co-operative Collieries at Hikurangi, for which there is a standing order.