KEY POINTS:
The small Coromandel town of Thames was tonight reeling from the news that up to 300 jobs could be lost if Carter Holt Harvey closes its mill at Kopu.
Engineering, printing and Manufacturing Union (EPMU) national secretary Andrew Little told NZPA tonight he had been informed of the impending closure this morning and workers had been told this afternoon.
Mr Little said at the moment the company had put a proposal to the workers and there would be a consultative process between employees and employers until the end of the month and then a decision would be made.
Thames Coromandel District Council deputy mayor Adrian Catran told NZPA tonight the council had had no prior warning of the planned closure and the news was "devastating" for the community.
Mayor Phillippa Barriball echoed his words and said that Thames was a community of about 7500 people and while some of the workers from the mill came in from the Hauraki Plains and other areas, the majority of them were Thames people.
"It's not just 300 workers, it's the wives, it's the kids in the school ... they're our volunteer fire force, they are our St John Ambulance drivers, they are community supporters, sports coaches ...
"We may lose those people from our town because we don't have lot of other employment here.
"This loss is significant," Ms Barriball said.
She said she had had no warning of the proposal.
"It was just someone I know, who knows someone who works there, that the information has just filtered through."
- NZPA
