Norsewear staff still in dark over jobs

The iconic Norsewear brand has been sold to Auckland company Atlantic Apparel, headed by director Ben Nathan, National Distribution Union's Manawatu-Wanganui region organiser Dion Martin said yesterday.
"...Which means he [Nathan] can do what he likes with it. Once all the New Zealand made product runs out here then because he owns the brand, he can get it all made in China and still call it Norsewear which is terrible for a brand that's part of the Kiwi heritage."
The news of the sale to sell the brand by the company's board of directors and shareholders has been nothing short of a fiasco for its workers, he said.
"They haven't had the decency or bothered to talk to their workers. They haven't gone near them. It's disgraceful. It's all come via the media."
The board was looking for a buyer for the Wanganui Norsewear factory in Wilson St, which employs 22 workers and has been in operation since 1998, he said.
"There is enough yarn at the Wanganui plant to last until December, so it seems it's business as usual till then. But who would know? Nothing has been said.
"The workers have been promised a statement for days about their jobs and what is expected to happen for them. It's been really shoddy. They've been left completely up in the air."
Mr Martin said when he spoke to the acting chief executive Myles Scholey, who was simply on board for six weeks to sort everything out, Mr Scholey had said redundancy payouts had not been mentioned by the board.
"He's also promised every day that he's coming on site to the factory in Norsewood. Well, that's not going to happen now till next week, because he told me he has personal commitments."
In the meantime, the workers can go on wondering, he said. "It's not right. Some of them are getting really hot under the collar and talking about bringing in lawyers. Some of these people have been with the company 28 years. They deserve better treatment than this."
A board meeting was held in Wellington yesterday, Mr Martin said.
"I had a phone call from Mr Scholey, who said that even though he can't come up, there will be a statement for all the workers by 9.30am today."
A Wanganui worker said everyone was very upset and fed up.
"We thought we would at least have heard from our Mayor, Michael Laws, or our MP, Chester Borrows, about the situation and how they have just left us and told us nothing."
Mr Scholey confirmed last night there had been no official statement released yet.
When asked when there would be a statement to the workers, he said: "You will just have to wait and see".