Potential job losses at Tokoroa's Kinleith Mill

Tuesday, 6 December 2016

The Kinleith Mill in Tokoroa is owned by Oji Fibre Solutions, a Japanese company who purchased the mill from Carter Holt Harvey in 2014.

Up to 180 jobs are on the line at the Kinleith Mill in Tokoroa, after owners Oji Fibre Solutions announced it was making changes to its maintenance structure.

Maintenance staff at the mill, contracted by Quant, have been told they'd be made redundant from April, 2017.

Staff include shift and day workers, wage and salary earners as well as fitters, electricians, technicians, foremans and planners.

Oji Fibre Solutions chief operating officer Terry Skiffington said in a statement they were bringing their management of maintenance operations in-house.

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He said operations would continue to be outsourced, and they were now inviting contractors to bid for these contracts.

'The new contracts which will take effect from April 2017, combined with our new maintenance management structure, will reflect a more efficient maintenance organisation.'

Oji Fibre Solutions said they could not say anything more on job losses as it depends on the contractors.

South Waikato District Council Mayor Jenny Shattock said it was disappointing to hear, especially close to Christmas.

'I was told Oji is now bringing it back in-house for them to be more competitive in today's environment.'

She was told there would be fewer people on a daily basis, meaning job losses.

'But there would be those fit for the new organisation, and perhaps some that won't fit.'

She said council was working hard on economic growth, and hoped people would stay in the town.

'Tokoroa has been through redundancies before, and we're a resilient community.

'There is the new Fonterra opening so perhaps jobs opening there, and we're partners with a road rail terminal.'

However, Quant spokesman Shane Archer refused to call it redundancies.

'Quant is a company, so cannot be redundant. The contract Quant has will not be renewed and will simply run to expiry on April 3 [2017].'

He said that following April, Quant would not deliver any services at Kinleith Mill.

'Quant are still operating for four months more, and no roles have been made redundant. Roles may be redundant from April, that will depend on which service provider is selected and their resource requirement.

'The successful provider will require resources which will more than likely be the people we currently have on site.'

The Japanese company also owns the Tasman Mill in Kawerau, with potential maintenance job losses with the company, Broadspectrum.

In 2014, the Kinleith Mill, as well as the Tasman Mill, Penrose Mill and the CHH Group packaging businesses in Australia and New Zealand, were bought by the Japanese paper manufacturer Oji Holdings and Japanese government-back investment fund Innovation Corporation of Japan.

It was sold by Carter Holt Harvey for $1.037 billion dollars.

In 2002, Carter Holt Harvey made redundancies with nearly half of the mill's staff laid off. Out of 770 staff members, 355 were made redundant, and 173 were rehired by contractors for maintenance.

In 1992, Trade Union members striked against the government's Employment Contracts Act which they saw as a threat to collective bargaining.