Fifty jobs to go at clothing factory

Clothing manufacturer Pacific Brands has confirmed it is closing its Palmerston North factory, resulting in 50 job losses.

In March, the company said it intended to stop production in both its Christchurch and Palmerston North plants.

Both factories went up for sale with the possibility of jobs being created if either was bought.

But the company confirmed today that no formal offers had been received for the Palmerston North plant which would now close.

The announcement comes two weeks after the company confirmed it was closing the Christchurch factory with the loss of 38 jobs.

National Distribution Union (NDU) president Robert Reid today said the workers had lived under the threat of closure for almost four months since they were told of Pacific Brands' intention to exit manufacturing in New Zealand in March.

"Now the announcement has been made the workers will be able to get on and organise the rest of their lives," Mr Reid said.

Although workers would be made redundant in a couple of weeks, the NDU was hopeful a buyer would still be found for the Palmerston North plant.

This could see some workers being rehired, Mr Reid said.

"Workers at Pacific Brands will receive a modest redundancy settlement.

"The union has also negotiated for Pacific Brands to fund the running of a redundancy resource centre at the factory for the next few weeks and also for retraining costs of up to $3000 per person," Mr Reid said.

- NZPA