Forestry work in crisis: unionist

The forestry industry faces a labour crisis, says a leading trade unionist.

The industry, which employs 25,000 people directly and a further 100,000 in associated industries, faces pressure on its labour pool if production doubles as expected in the next 15 years, said Andrew Little, secretary of the Engineering Printing and Manufacturing Union.

He was addressing industry leaders at the Forest Industries Conference in Rotorua last week.

"Even the industry itself knows there's a problem," he said.

He quoted Forestries Industries Training chief executive John Blakey as saying two years ago that a shortage of skilled workers was caused by the industry's bad record over the past few years, "Forestry," said Blakey, "has a major credibility problem. It's no longer seen as a good employer."

Little challenged the industry "to work together to overcome the labour crisis" and said a multi-employer collective employment agreement was "a way of setting industry standards on training and conditions and ensuring all forestry workers are treated fairly."

- NZPA