Mill workers at Summit Wool Spinners hope the latest round of voluntary redundancies will be the last.
Summit announced on Thursday it would be calling for up to 30 voluntary redundancies to deal with a downturn in orders as a result of the global economic crisis. It will also give staff an eight-day fully paid break to create a backlog of work to retain other staff.
That follows about 50 redundancies and the introduction of a nine-day working fortnight under the Government's job support scheme in late March, which saved another 57 jobs at the mill.
Summit hopes forward orders will improve towards the end of the year as stock is used up.
Summit staff spoken to by the Otago Daily Times said yesterday there was still an air of uncertainty at the plant, but workers were continuing to do their jobs in the hope the latest moves would be the last and orders would improve.
National Distribution Union regional organiser Ken Young said staff had "put their lives on hold", but the saving grace was they had retained jobs.
The company would accept up to 30 voluntary redundancies. There would be no forced redundancies if that number was not reached.
While praising the way Summit and its Japanese owner, Sumitomo Corporation, were handling the situation, Mr Young hoped the latest moves would be the last.
The company wanted to honour the agreement it had under the job support scheme, which lasted until about October, he said.
Waitaki Mayor Alex Familton said yesterday the Waitaki District Council had not specifically been approached by Summit to discuss any assistance it could offer the mill.
Summit had been involved, along with other companies and businesses, in consultation the council had conducted over its 2009-19 long-term council community plan, but Mr Familton said that did not involve talking about the current situation at the mill.
