KEY POINTS:
Workers to be laid off from a Christchurch meat processing plant are taking some comfort from the fact that redeployment opportunities are being made available.
Silver Fern Farms announced a proposal today to close two chains at its Canterbury processing plant, at a cost of 225 processing jobs and 24 administration and maintenance jobs.
The lamb, mutton and veal plant employs about 445 people at peak season.
Chief executive Keith Cooper said the closure of the former PPCS meat co-operative's slaughter operations at Canterbury was the final instalment of its Project Rightsize for 2008.
The project comes on the back of New Zealand's dwindling lamb numbers which have accounted for the loss of several hundred jobs at plants in Dunedin and Hawke's Bay.
Graeme Whyte, who has worked on and off at the Canterbury plant since the 1970s, said many had hoped only one of the plant's two chains would go.
He said staff were awaiting redundancy details, but believed many would put their hand up for 70 cutting room positions the company said would be available at Canterbury and the Islington venison facility also in Christchurch.
Mr Whyte told NZPA the lay-offs would hit hard among the staff, with many having been there for decades and most probably into their 50s.
"It's a lifetime career for many of them - and it has been for me too."
He said staff had realised a long time ago that lamb numbers were declining, and in more recent times the processing of seemingly good breeding ewes had also given an indication as to what was happening in the farming sector.
Mr Cooper said the downsizing reflected the fact that South Island sheep and lamb numbers were expected to drop by an estimated 2.2 million units next year.
That was due to traditional sheep and lamb farms converting to dairy and other land uses.
Mr Cooper also cited the need for significant capital investment needed at the Canterbury plant, along with its unsuitable urban location.
New Zealand Meat Workers Union general secretary Dave Eastlake said the union was now concentrating on facilitating staff affected by today's announcement into the cutting room positions.
"We're talking to them as early as this afternoon about that," he told NZPA.
Mr Eastlake said Silver Fern's "consulting process" would last until August 5 and then the company would make the announcement official.
"I'm in no doubt the final decision will be exactly the same as what they've announced today."
He said the closure of the plant's chains was not a huge surprise and there were no real issues with how the company had handled the situation.
"While some were quite sad I think there were people that were quite surprised that there will be about 200 jobs retained there. So it's a bit of good news and a bit of bad news."
Speaking at a conference after announcing the company's plans to staff this morning, Mr Cooper said he believed while Silver Fern Farms now had it right in terms of operating efficiency, that was not the case for the industry in general for the South Island.
"I would say that other companies have yet to address their over-capacity issues," he said.
- NZPA
