NZ: Job losses in coal and rail

These coal miners will no doubt be headed across the Tasman at a time when the Australian coal industry is shedding jobs. Meanwhile infrastructure is crumbling on the New Zealand railways while the government throws all its money into roads.

222 staff culled at Spring Creek mine

State coal firm Solid Energy has announced sweeping staff cuts today including the axing of some executive jobs and 222 staff and 130 contractors at Spring Creek on the West Coast.

Stuff,

24 September, 2012

The radical revamp would shrink its staff numbers by 25 per cent to 1360 from 1800 at the beginning of the year.

Solid Energy said it would be halving the executive leadership team as well as halving the numbers of staff in corporate, support services and development.

The Spring Creek Mine would be mothballed, that is placed "into care and maintenance".

At the Huntly East mine in the Waikato 65 jobs would be axed.

The company said the restructure was responding to a severe downturn in global coal prices which would resulting in $200 million less in coal sales this financial year.

Solid Energy chairman Mark Ford said the company had entered into a further period of consultation with corporate, support services and development staff to cut their number by half from 313 to 150.

Most of those jobs were in Christchurch.

The job cuts proposed reflected the company's smaller mining operations, less coal development work, a halving of the executive leadership team, and the setting up of a standalone technical services group and fewer corporate roles.

"We appreciate that this on-going uncertainty is very difficult for people but the management team has to give staff the opportunity to comment on the further changes that we are now proposing," Ford said.

The company expected to confirm its new plans to corporate, support services and coal development staff early next month. Ford said the company had completed its review of Spring Creek underground coal mine and could not afford to keep it going. It had not been profitable for some time and had lost more than $100m.

The company would begin consultation with staff at the mine who would remain on full pay during this time.

If the company confirmed the proposal staff numbers at the mine would fall from about 254 to 32.

Up to another 130 contractors jobs would be affected.

Solid Energy would help staff find new jobs and was in discussions with the Stronger Christchurch Infrastructure Rebuild team (SCIRT) and with mining companies in Australia on that front.

"We absolutely understand the potential impact of this proposal on the local community and the wider district," Ford said.

"We will do all we can to identify future employment opportunities for affected staff and we have already had some very promising discussions which we hope to confirm in the near future."

KiwiRail reduces job cuts

KiwiRail has rolled back the number of jobs it plans to cut from more than 200 to 158, but the union representing workers says the remaining redundancies represent a failure of Government policy on rail.

TV3,

24 September, 2012

KiwiRail Infrastructure and Engineering General Manager Rick van Barneveld says staff will be told this week which roles are at stake.

“We’ve worked very closely with the union and staff to ensure all those affected have the information they need, and understand the process.”

He says 70 workers have chosen to take voluntary redundancy, but there will still be mandatory redundancies to come, and he was unsure of the final number.

“Every effort will be made to retain the skills and talents of our staff by finding other opportunities for them at KiwiRail.”

KiwiRail will begin a series of meetings with staff today and in October will work with staff whose roles have ended to try to find further employment for them elsewhere in the business.

Mr van Barneveld says the cuts are part of a restructure of the Infrastructure and Engineering business, part of a programme to rebalance KiwiRail’s priorities during economic uncertainty. He says KiwiRail intends to spend $750 million on the network over the next three years.

Rail and Maritime Transport Union general secretary Wayne Butson says workers are still unhappy that the jobs are going.

"Vital work won't get done or will be delayed and that will compromise safety and performance," he says.

"We'll see more temporary speed restrictions in place and a greater potential for derailments and other critical incidents, with customers and staff paying the true cost of the cuts."

KiwiRail has been the victim of failed Government policy, Mr Butson says.

"We have an opportunity to create employment and build a world class integrated transport system using rail, and instead we're running it into the ground."

A total of 158 jobs are to be cut, with 42 in the northern region, 58 in the central region, 40 in the southern region and 18 in the track machine and rail welding team

Nuplex to shed New Zealand jobs

Nuplex is to close plants and cut jobs in New Zealand and Australia in response to lower demand for its products.

Radio NZ,

23 September, 2012

The resins and chemicals maker says a tenth of its 800-strong Australasian workforce is affected and up to 40 jobs will be eliminated in New Zealand over the next two years.

Nuplex will close its Onehunga plant and its high-temperature facility at Penrose, affecting up to 40 jobs.

It will also close sites at Canning Vale in Western Australia and Wangaratta in Victoria, costing another 40 jobs, but will shift operations and invest more in its remaining sites, including Penrose.

Australasian regional president Sam Bastounas says the firm has experienced very tough trading conditions in Australasia over the last 18 months.

Mr Bastounas says the high Australian dollar and a construction sector that is under pressure are having an impact on the company.

"What we've done is look at our overall footprint across Australia and New Zealand and we've made the decision to streamline our operations and through that preserve manufacturing in Australia and and New Zealand."

The listed company makes products that are used in the paint, paper and textile industries, but it has been hurt by the downturn in construction markets on both sides of the Tasman.

Nuplex's profit is expected to fall by $17 million this financial year due to restructuring costs and writing down the value of plant, equipment and investments.

But Nuplex says the full benefit of the changes should result in pre-tax savings of about $5.6 million a year by 2015.

Nuplex's shares fell 21 cents to $2.97 on Monday morning.