Thursday, February 10, 2011

Yarrows process 'bizarre'

Rifts are opening in staff redundancy discussions between Yarrows management and the Engineering Printing and Manufacturing Union.

Yarrows announced last month that restructuring was needed at its Manaia plant with as many as 40 jobs under threat.

Since then the EPMU has been in discussions with workers about applying for voluntary redundancy. Organiser Wayne Ruscoe said workers would be getting a standard redundancy package.

"Based on service – the longer they have been there the larger the compensation," he said.

However, Mr Ruscoe said the union was suspicious about how Yarrows bosses were making the selection of who would be made redundant.

"There have been 40 applications already and the company has rejected 20 of those volunteers for what appears to be no good reason.

"They are saying therefore there will have to be compulsory redundancies – and they don't want the workers to be represented by us when they make the selection.

"It is very poor form, especially for a company that refers to itself as a family operation, to leave the most important part of the family out of the process – it seems quite bizarre," he said.

Yarrows CEO Colin Pettigrew said the company had made no decision to go down the pathway of voluntary redundancy.

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