Eves Valley Sawmill in Tasman employs about 150 people. Photo: RNZ / Samantha Gee
Staff at the Eves Valley sawmill in Tasman are still digesting the news that their jobs are likely to end soon - a blow one worker says she didn't see coming.
Carter Holt Harvey told the mill's almost 150 staff this week about plans consolidate its operations to Kawerau in Bay of Plenty.
It comes as the timber industry struggles with low demand, increased running costs, and wars and tariffs overseas.
Maria Hemara has worked as a general hand at the sawmill for the past six years and said it's potential closure was a shock that left her feeling like she was in a slow motion movie.
"It's life-changing and unsettling, it's bewildering, really, to be faced with this."
She had thought it was a job she would remain in for the rest of her life.
"A lot of us are like this is sweet, we're going to keep doing this, everybody needs timber... my personal thought was this is a good job to be in, I'm set until I retire."
Hemara said she learnt of the proposal to close the plant along with her colleagues when they were called to a site-wide meeting on Wednesday.
Staff had been discussing what it could be, and she said they didn't think it would be a big announcement.
"We just had a restructure and we were getting over that and we were all happy, you know, those that kept their jobs, because we really loved our jobs, still do.
"After the meeting I just felt like deflated and it was hard not to look at my workmates without wanting to just curl up and cry."
The entrance of the Eves Valley Sawmill in Tasman. Photo: RNZ / Samantha Gee
Hemara said despite it still being a proposal, she was already feeling the loss - of her job, income and her colleagues who were like family. She was worried about finding another job, but was trying to remain positive.
"It does feel like a giant, blimmin' funeral and I just want to do my job and do it as I normally would."
Council of Trade Unions president Richard Wagstaff said news of the mill's potential closure was disappointing and it was far from a one-off.
Council of Trade Unions president Richard Wagstaff said the potential closure was disappointing. (File photo) Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
"It's a pattern of regional collapses of firms, we've seen it quite a lot in the meat industry and in the timber industry and we're deeply concerned about it because, you know, it really reflects a pattern of de-industrialisation of key industries in New Zealand.
"You do this kind of damage to them, you let them fall and they're very hard to bring back, they have long-term impacts on our economy."
He said the government should consider introducing better policies to support regional industries and their staff.
"There was a social insurance plan in place a couple of years ago that business and unions were backing with a previous government. This government said, 'why do we need that? There isn't a problem with unemployment'.
"Well, we've got one now and we could really deal with a decent social insurance plan, which has much better protection for workers when they lose their jobs and when industries go under like this."
Timber Industry Federation executive director Jeff Ilott said the proposed closure didn't come as a surprise - given the downturn in the construction industry.
"It was possibly on the cards that a sawmill was likely to tip over at some stage, you know, we're struggling with a significant downturn in the construction industry, which is the bread and butter of saw milling in New Zealand at the moment."
He said in the year to June, building consents had dropped from 51,000 issued in 2022, to around about 34,000 this year, so it was easy to see why mills were struggling.
Ilott agreed the government could do more to support the industry.
"We've long pushed a policy that any government building should be considered to be built out of wood first. They've recently introduced a wool first policy for carpeting government buildings, we've said the same should apply for the primary construction material of any government building."
Minister for the South Island James Meager told RNZ the government wouldn't intervene, but it wanted to make sure it could secure jobs in the regions.
Carter Holt Harvey was expected to make a decision on the future of the Eves Valley sawmill in early September.
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