E tū members finish up at Mangatainoka’s Tui Brewery

End of an era as E tū members finish up at Mangatainoka’s Tui Brewery

Tomorrow is the final day on the job for 11 E tū members at Tui Brewery in Mangatainoka in Manawatu.

E tū organiser, Ruth Sproston says workers were told last August the brewery would be decommissioned, with most workers finishing uptomorrow.

She says the news of the brewery’s closure came as a shock to long-time brewery workers, some of whom have worked at the iconic site for more than 40 years.

She says E tū understands the site will be redeveloped as a boutique brewery, with work for only a handful of people.

Ruth says “It is the end of an era. They’re a great bunch of guys and this is like the break-up of a family. But it’s the way of the world.”

She says DB which owns the brewery has blamed the job losses on people drinking more imported beer.

A DB spokesperson told E tū the company is putting in a new brew-house, and some Tui’s will be brewed on-site, though production will also move to Timaru and Auckland.

Ruth says it’s expected a tiny team of people will stay on until August to complete decommissioning at the plant.

ENDS

Update from E tū: DB has now corrected information we previously received about where Tui beer will be produced. The answer is some will still be brewed on-site; the rest will be moved to Timaru; not Auckland as well, as we were initially told.

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