Labour stands with job loss communities

A Labour Government will establish Community Task Forces of business, workers, locals and government to develop new opportunities for skilled workers when major job losses such as those at Shannon occur.

“Every week we see major job losses hitting a region hard and workers forced to leave. These communities are being hollowed out,” Labour Leader David Cunliffe said from Shannon today.

“Already this week we’ve seen 120 jobs go at Rotorua’s Tachikawa mill and 86 jobs go at the Shannon fellmongery, where I visited workers today.

“The people of Shannon are doing their best, but losing 86 jobs out of a population of just 1200 is too much for them to cope with on their own.

“There is a massive gap in leadership and no one is working with them. This Government says the workers should move to Auckland, meanwhile leaving those communities to fend for themselves. A Labour-led Government will not. We will work with them.

“Labour will fight tooth and nail to stop jobs going. But when a major closure or redundancy can’t be stopped Labour will stand with the local community, creating a Community Task Force to help those workers in the region.

“By bringing together the local community, business, workers and government we can work together and develop solutions to keep people in the area.

“National has given up on the regions. Labour hasn’t. We need to work with and empower communities to create opportunities for skilled workers,” David Cunliffe says.

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