Up to 23 jobs on the line in potential restructure at Heinz-Wattie’s
A potential restructure at Heinz-Wattie’s Hastings’ operations could see up to 23 middle management jobs disestablished.
The restructure, which is currently in the consultation period, has sparked a mix of emotions from workers, with one of the three unions involved saying the timing is “insensitive”.
However, the food production company says it “remains committed to treating everyone involved with dignity and respect”.
Union, E Tū who represent 17 of those affected, say they do not believe the restructure needed to happen now, with Christmas around the corner.
“The members are absolutely beside themselves; I mean you can imagine at this time of year with that hanging over your shoulder, whether you’ve got a job or not, it’s just totally insensitive of the company to put it out at this time,” E Tū organiser advocate Norm Mouritsen said.
Some of his members have taken stress and sick leave as a result of the proposal. “It’s not good for the workers, their families, and communities full stop.”
Mouritsen says the company has told them that they want to “flatten the structure,” – “They believe they’ve got an extra layer of leadership that they want to eliminate”.
“They’re not in a position where they need to be cutting jobs. They’re not in dire straits where they need to be cutting costs and not at this time of the year anyway,” he said.
The team and shift leaders were notified of their fate several weeks ago ahead of the decision due to be made in the next few days.
However, they are “hopeful” there will be redeployment and retraining options available for those who want. While those who would like to take redundancy, will.
“We just don’t know how many people really are going to be affected yet.”
Mates Union organiser John Young said he is “confident” the five affected employees he is representing will get the outcome they want.
“I am pretty confident that those who want to go will get paid, and jobs will be found for the others.” Like E Tū, some have been with Heinz-Wattie’s for as many as 40 years.
He said the employees affected are “highly experienced machine operators” and there is “plenty of work” in the industry.
A spokesperson for Heinz Wattie’s said: “From time to time, we evaluate our business and processes to ensure that we are operating effectively and efficiently”.
“As a result of a recent review, we are proposing to simplify our Hastings site operations and provide clear lines of responsibility. We are presently engaged in a consultation process that includes offering voluntary redundancy.
“Our objective is to minimise the impact on people as much as possible while evolving our operations in a progressive way, responding to market changes and consumer preferences.
