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A big Australian engineering firm which contracts to Telecom is set to make 170 workers here redundant.
Staff of Transfield Services were given the news at meetings in Wellington, Auckland, Christchurch, Hamilton and New Plymouth.
The company has 1400 staff in its New Zealand telecommunications division, and there are fears hundreds more jobs could go.
In a memo sent to staff last night, the company said, despite four months of talks, it had not been able to negotiate a new deal with Telecom beyond January next year.
Chief Executive Graeme Sumner said he knew workers will be devastated, but the company had been losing a substantial amount of money each month since July.
He said to not take action would be "fiscally irresponsible".
- NEWSTALK ZB
