Latest / Best of Business / Joe Gallagher: E tū Union negotiation specialist on the proposed closure of major Auckland pulp mill

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Joe Gallagher: E tū Union negotiation specialist on the proposed closure of major Auckland pulp mill · Best of Business

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  Speaker 1: Heather Duplicy Allen.
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  Speaker 2: Now, the energy problem for New Zealand is getting worse.
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  Speaker 2: Seventy five workers at a pulp mill in Penrose and
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  Speaker 2: Auckland were told this morning that the mill will probably
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  Speaker 2: have to shut down by mid December because of power prices.
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  Speaker 2: And this comes after two mills near or Herkuny down
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  Speaker 2: tools for two weeks for the same reason. They may
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  Speaker 2: also shut and Methodex is running at half capacity because
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  Speaker 2: of a gas shortage. Joe Gallagher is a negotiation specialist
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  Speaker 2: at two, which is one of the unions involved in
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  Speaker 2: the Penrose mill. He joins us, Now, Hey.
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  Speaker 3: Joe, good evening, how do you rate.
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  Speaker 2: The chances that this mill does actually shut down?
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  Speaker 3: Look? I mean, you know, we all live in eternal hope.
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  Speaker 3: But my experience after twenty two years in this in
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  Speaker 3: this industry, is that it's going to be extremely challenging
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  Speaker 3: to keep this mill open given the pressure from power prices.
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  Speaker 3: This morning O were twelve hundred dollars a megawatt and
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  Speaker 3: forty dollars at Cagilla wat for gas. So you know,
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  Speaker 3: I think it's going to be very very hard to
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  Speaker 3: keep it open from facing those type of price pressure pressures.
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  Speaker 2: What can the government do about this is everybody's looking
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  Speaker 2: at the government to fix it.
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  Speaker 3: Can they well, look, you know, I think you know,
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  Speaker 3: someone has to seriously have a look at how we
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  Speaker 3: could regulate or put some regulation and support for heavy industry.
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  Speaker 3: This is you know, we're seeing you know, closures, We're
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  Speaker 3: seeing weeb Star and Masterton, We're seeing those two plants
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  Speaker 3: idling up. New Zealand steel has to work, you know,
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  Speaker 3: potentially idle up every now and then because in some
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  Speaker 3: cases it costs two hundred and thirty thousand dollars an
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  Speaker 3: hour to run a kiln. So all of these plants
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  Speaker 3: are under pressure. It's really you know, incumbent, I think
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  Speaker 3: on the government come up with the strategies that shows
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  Speaker 3: support for manufacturing in New Zealand. They're supporting farmers, they're
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  Speaker 3: supporting landlords. I think it's about time they reached out
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  Speaker 3: to heavy industry and came up with a plan to
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  Speaker 3: keep manufacturing local.
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  Speaker 2: So what are you suggesting, force the force the retailers,
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  Speaker 2: the power retailers to cut prices, or give these guys
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  Speaker 2: tax breaks or what.
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  Speaker 3: Well, I think you know we need people need to
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  Speaker 3: get together and look at all the solutions. I mean,
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  Speaker 3: I don't think one there's going to be one solution
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  Speaker 3: to this problem. But I mean, you know this, the
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  Speaker 3: power and the gas price and the gas shortage, it's
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  Speaker 3: all out of control. So I think we have to
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  Speaker 3: look at waste to ensure that we have a strong
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  Speaker 3: manufacturing base in New Zealand because a lot of these
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  Speaker 3: mills and companies are critical to a rural New Zealand.
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  Speaker 3: I'm down and Tower part at the moment and can
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  Speaker 3: leave pulp and paper well, which is part of og
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  Speaker 3: that that is critical to that community. Likewise, Glenbrook and
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  Speaker 3: the steel mill is critical to that water community. So
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  Speaker 3: we've got to be doing everything in our power all
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  Speaker 3: stakeholders to work out a solution to support local manufacturing
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  Speaker 3: that you know, it just says something sense that ship
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  Speaker 3: it off shore.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I agree with you basically on the sentiment. It's
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  Speaker 2: how to do it that's the problem made. Listen on Kenleith,
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  Speaker 2: we got told today that ogi's looking at ken Leith
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  Speaker 2: Pulp and Paper mill potentially going to shut it down.
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  Speaker 2: Have you heard that?
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  Speaker 3: No, I haven't. I've been on site today and no
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  Speaker 3: one's raised that with me, So I wouldn't like that
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  Speaker 3: to you know, get out there. You know, I've been
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  Speaker 3: down and I've done a tour of the site. I've
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  Speaker 3: been talking to all the members. I've got other meetings tomorrow.
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  Speaker 3: The note there's none of that sentiment at the moment
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  Speaker 3: because that would be a huge that would be a
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  Speaker 3: huge blow to this community. I mean Tokara was formed
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  Speaker 3: out of can lead needing workers to come down and
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  Speaker 3: build the mill. So you know, at this stage there's
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  Speaker 3: been none of that talk around.
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  Speaker 2: What about pan Pac millon Hawks Bay, which is also
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  Speaker 2: owned by OG apparently has stopped producing, has it?
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  Speaker 3: Look, I can't comment on that hat. I hadn't heard
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  Speaker 3: that today. I haven't heard that. I've got further meetings
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  Speaker 3: next week. With OG Senior Management. I mean, you know
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  Speaker 3: those questions that I can follow up on. I mean,
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  Speaker 3: all of these mills are facing those same pressures right industry.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, Joe, listen, thank you very much for talking us
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  Speaker 2: through that. I do appreciate it. It's Joe Gallagher at
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  Speaker 2: two's negotiation specialist.
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