CHRISTCHURCH: New Zealand union officials have cried foul over Pacific Brands' approach to redundancies in the market.
The National Distribution Union, which represented workers at Pacific Brands factories in Christchurch and Palmerston North, said the company had treated its New Zealand workers as second class citizens.
Director Robert Reid said when Pacific Brands announced 1,800 jobs cuts across its Australian arm earlier this year, it had gone "over and above" to assist affected workers.
"However, in New Zealand, the company refuses to even formally meet with the union until mid-May, refuses to discuss many of the issues when it does meet and tries to dictate who the union can bring to the meeting when it takes place."
He said huge public backlash in Australia had forced the company to offer strong redundancy packages for local workers. The union was considering legal action to force Pacific Brands to "come to the table" with its neighbours.
"It seems that Pacific Brands is determined to treat its New Zealand workers as second class citizens," Reid said.
Yesterday, seven knitting positions at the company's Palmerston North site were made redundant. It was expected a total of 38 jobs in Christchurch and 51 jobs in Palmerston North would be lost in total.
Meanwhile on the home front, the wholesaler today announced its had secured debt relief for the next financial year. Pacific Brands chief executive Sue Morphet said existing lenders had agreed to extend the maturity profile of its debt facilities.
This meant the first tranche of its existing debt had been extended from August 21, 2010 to January 1, 2011, when the tranche was to be fully repaid. The second tranche had been also been extended to March 28, 2012 while Tranche 3 would remain unchanged.
The group had $810.8 million in net debt at December 31, 2008, with $1.05 billion available under existing facilities at the time.
Pacific Brands chief executive Sue Morphet said the extension reflected "further support and confidence" in the company's strategy for the financial year.