CI Munro set to axe 67 jobs

A caravan builder is planning on laying off 67 staff, citing a downturn in tourism numbers from the UK and Germany.

Tourism Holdings, owner of CI Munro, chief financial officer Ian Lewington said tourism numbers from Australia are holding up but they are not enough to off-set the drop-off in numbers from Europe.

Lewington said the company has looked forward to the next 18 months and hoped that a turn-around would be under way by then.

He said the company hoped the international financial market recovery and the 2011 Rugby World Cup would spark an upturn in business.

The Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union represents workers at the CI Munro factory in Hamilton.

EPMU spokesman Rob Egan said the union is asking the company to consider a nine day fortnight at the factory in an effort to save jobs.

Egan said the company is also only offering one week of consultation, the minimum under the collective agreement.

Lewington said the company had a brief look at the possibility of a nine day fortnight but given the structure of the business, it would make it difficult to implement.

He said only one part of the business is affected by the lay-offs and if they went down to a nine day fortnight, it would create difficulties with other parts of the business operating on a full-time basis.

"We're obliviously open to feedback if we haven't got that right but that's the way we see things at the moment," Lewington said.

Earlier this year, Tourism Holdings reported a $300,000 loss for the six months to December, compared with a $4.9 million profit in the same period in 2007.

A factor in the result was CI Munro, which made a loss of $3.2 million - down from a $100,000 profit in the previous year.

- NZHERALD STAFF