Campaign against Gunns staff should be condemned

PETER GUTWEIN MP, Shadow Treasurer, Saturday 9 May, 2009

Whilst I doubt that the TAP campaign will have a big impact on Gunns overall operations, it does have the capacity to have a very real affect on employees and their families if the company as a result needs to let some staff go.

Campaign against Gunns staff should be condemned

The campaign by TAP to convince local people to stop buying locally from Gunns stores should be condemned.

It is a direct and full frontal attack on the employees of the company and the security of their jobs. If the Premier had any ticker he will join me in denouncing this campaign for the grubby mean spirited attack on Tasmanian workers that it is.

TAP’s actions, if successful, would reduce turnover in Gunns’ retail division, which in the current economic climate can ultimately mean only one thing – a loss of jobs.

The multiplier effect would then mean that reduced wages in our community would equal reduced spending in other local businesses for food, clothes and leisure items.

Whilst I doubt that the TAP campaign will have a big impact on Gunns overall operations, it does have the capacity to have a very real affect on employees and their families if the company as a result needs to let some staff go.

TAP should consider other ways to get its point across rather than directly targeting the employees who work for the company.

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NOT EVERY TASMANIAN WORKS AT GUNNS

TAP Into A Better Tasmania reminds Gunns about those other jobs at risk from the proposed pulp mill

TAP Into A Better Tasmania rejects claims made by Gunns Retail Division General Manager, David Legro that a car bumper sticker ‘I no longer shop @ Gunns’ threatens the company’s retail staff jobs.

While the community group acknowledges the downturn in the economy adds to the widespread job insecurity being felt throughout the state, spokesperson Judith King reminds Gunns that Tasmania’s shopping options for hardware goods are not limited to Gunns’ retail stores, and these alternative stores also employ a significant number of Tasmanians.

“Many northern Tasmanians that I’ve spoken to say they haven’t shopped at Gunns for years. The sticker simply reinforces a decision people made a long time ago, due to community frustration and anger at the company’s refusal to heed their concerns about the many unanswered risks associated with the pulp mill,” she said.

TAP Into A Better Tasmania is fully supportive of The Examiner’s Buy Locally campaign given that so many of its members and supporters own and operate small businesses that rely on a Tasmanian client base for much of their custom. These are the agriculture, tourism, fine foods and fishing businesses, which collectively employ over 2000 Tasmanians. The long-term viability of these businesses and jobs have been under threat of the pulp mill for the past five years.

Website: www.tapvision.info