Union says Imperial Tobacco plant in Petone will officially close
Thursday, 13 February 2020
More than 100 people will lose their jobs after Imperial Tobacco confirmed it will close its factory in Lower Hutt.
On Thursday, E tū received confirmation that the Imperial Tobacco plant in Petone would close.
E tū organiser Damon Rongotaua said the closure of the 100-year-old factory was caused by several factors.
'As a result of health policies designed to reduce smoking including higher excise, there are declining sales and over-capacity both here and in Australia, where some of the product is sold,' Rongotaua said.
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'The plant also needs up to $4 million to bring it up to code. They've got two practically new plants overseas and that's where this work will be going.'
The 82 workers represented by the union were likely to get big payouts, especially those who had worked at the factory for decades.
But people who had not been working at the factory for long would be hit hard.
About 122 jobs had been lost, he said.
Although some employees had been expecting the closure, it was still a sad day for them, he said.
'Actually, it's a sad day for the whole Hutt Valley. It's going to leave a massive hole in the community and the economy.
'I know it's not the retail product of choice but, for all the bad press around it, it's helped a lot of people to buy homes and kept communities running.'
The factory would go through a staged shutdown and the plant would be decommissioned by the end of the year.
Previously, Imperial Tobacco said the move had followed a global review by its parent company, Imperial Brands, of all its factory footprints.
However, the company is also moving towards 'smoke-free' products like e-cigarettes.
Imperial Tobacco spokeswoman Louise Evans McDonald previously told Stuff that Imperial had owned the factory since the late 1990s, but the site itself had been used for making tobacco products since 1919, initially under the name WD & HO Wills.
Imperial's products will remain on the market but be imported from overseas.
The Petone factory predominantly supplies Imperial Tobacco's products to the Australasian market, and is the company's only factory in New Zealand or Australia.
Lower Hutt mayor Campbell Barry said he was given a call on Thursday from Imperial Tobacco confirming it would close the factory.
Hutt City Council would be working with Imperial Tobacco and the Ministry of Social Development to support workers in finding other jobs.