Cape Foulwind cement works closure bad news for the local community

E tū members at Holcim’s Cape Foulwind cement works are hanging up their boots today as the plant closes its doors.

The company has completed a three-year closure process, after deciding to start importing cement instead of manufacturing locally.

E tū delegate, Allan Greig who has worked for the company for over 30 years says it’s a sad day for the workers and the local community.

“We’re a tight-knit bunch, and we’re all disappointed to see the plant close its doors,” Allan says.

“There aren’t a lot of employment opportunities on the Coast at the moment. Something like this affects not just the workers and their families, but the whole local economy.”

Allan says that the long closure process has been pretty good, and the union and company have worked together to make the closure as smooth as possible.

“We’re a proud union site, always have been. This means that even through the rough times we’ve got the support of each other and workers across the country. I hate to think how this could have gone if we didn’t have proper representation.”

Allan added that the support from the union over the years had been great.

“I personally want to thank the organisers we’ve had while I’ve been working here. Ged, Matt, George and now Garth – you’ve done a brilliant job.”

E tū National Director of Industries, Ged O’Connell says that this is another worrying development for the West Coast, where economic conditions have seen too many good people losing good jobs.

“In recent years we’ve seen energy, construction and manufacturing jobs disappearing from the community at an alarming rate,” Ged says.

“These are highly unionised jobs. They are well-paid and we’ve fought for the best conditions for our members. But we’re seeing these jobs go, without many decent opportunities coming up for these highly skilled workers.

“We’d like to see more of an effort from both the companies and local and central government to get the West Coast economy humming along as it used to. That’s not happening today. It’s all pretty grim.

“We’re proud of our members at Cape Foulwind and we stand with them and the local community through these hard times,” Ged says.

ENDS

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