Workers at Carter Holt Harvey's Tokoroa plywood plant have been told that 119 jobs will be lost. Photo: Supplied/Google Maps Street View
Over 100 Tokoroa mill workers are facing an uncertain future after being told their plywood plant would shut down in November.
Workers at Carter Holt Harvey's Tokoroa plywood plant were called to a meeting on Tuesday evening and told all but a handful would lose their jobs within two months.
Ron, a worker who asked to keep his surname private, said it felt like a "kick in the face."
"What they told us was they spend $1 million a month on us and we can make $1.2 million so they only profit $200,000," he explained.
"But they can go overseas and, say, pay $200,000 and still make 1.2 million by [importing] it in."
Though not worried for himself, Ron said it would be hard on his coworkers.
"I know a lot of [workers] that have just finally bought their own house, their own cars, and there's three on my shift who are about to have a baby," he said.
"There's literally no jobs around, not locally. Even in the next town, which is like 10, 15 (minutes), even half an hour away ... There's no jobs there. You almost have to travel like an hour and a half to at least find a job."
Worker and union delegate Amira Turner said it was sad end to her long career at Carter Holt Harvey.
"There's quite a few of us that have done well over 20 years and a lot more that have done over 10. It's sad... it's sad," she said.
"People were expecting it, but yeah... [I'm feeling] resigned, because we knew about it, expected it."
Fellow union delegate Andrew Hobbs said he was worried about his job prospects.
"Looking for jobs is something I haven't been doing for near on 30 years, so it's going to be a game-changer for me to go out and look for a job, CVs, skills I don't have because I've been settled in a job for the last 24 years," he said.
Carter Holt Harvey declined to comment on Tuesday evening.
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