Sealord is in a restructuring of its business which results in the cutting of 180 land-based jobs. But 50 jobs at sea will be created by the commissioning of another factory freezer trawler. CEO Graham Stuart informed that it was more profitable to process at sea. He added that the easy option would be to close the Nelson plant but the company had decided against this. It was proposing to reduce it to one shift.
Sealord is buying out its partner fishing company Yuken, saying the move will position it for growth in the deep sea fishing industry in Argentina. The company told that it is planning to sell some of its Marlborough Sounds mussel farms to free up money to fund growth. It is said that the company is talking to staff about reducing its wetfish processing plant in Nelson to a single day shift.
The company informed that it is also cutting the number of salaried staff it has. The moves are part of a three-year strategy to focus on higher yielding parts of the business. According to Stuart Sealord’s core business unit, its New Zealand based fishing operations, has been earning returns significantly below cost of capital for several years. Assistant national secretary of the Service and Food Workers Union, Neville Donaldson said Sealord had just demanded that their employees must accept a reduction in wages to increase profits or face dismissal.
It is expected that Sealord intends to lay off around 160 staff immediately, and have indicated to us that they may close the processing plant in the near future unless staff agree to what is effectively a $70 a week cut in wages across the board.
