Hannanprint Dubbo closes

According to a company spokesman the announced Sydney redundancies were “not significant at this time.”

In a brief statement IMPG said ‘the extremely difficult decision had not been reached lightly and was made with regret for the impact on all employees, particularly the Dubbo employees and their families and the Dubbo community.’

It claimed the need to restructure Hannanprint is the result of factors that include the loss of business – Women’s Day magazine has changed from quarto to a wider A4 format and has been moved to Offset Alpine, while the long-run BBC catalogue has been lost to Victoria following the Bunnings takeover of the hardware company.

The closure took place after intensive consultation with the employee representatives and unions during which the company sought a reduction in wages and conditions. The employees subsequently rejected the company’s demands for greater shift flexibility and pay conditions.

“Hannanprint workers are not going to take part in a race to the bottom to sell off their wages and conditions only to find out down the track that the plant will close anyway,” said Amanda Perkins, secretary of the AMWU before the closure.

The general manager of Hannanprint, Tony Dedda, said all options identified by the Consultative Committee were considered. He acknowledged the excellent service of the management and staff of Hannanprint Dubbo and said that employees and the community could be proud of the Hannanprint Dubbo achievements.

“It is disappointing that the closure of the Dubbo operations is the result of economic factors beyond the control of the business. The dedication of our employees, their excellent customer service and high quality production is a credit to everyone,” he said.

Some employees complained that the company breached agreements to provide financial counseling services. IPMG said all employees of Hannanprint Dubbo would receive appropriate redundancy payments and full statutory entitlements.

The closure comes as IPMG renews its offer for PMP Printing, the largest heat-set web printer in Australia. The original offer was knocked by the ACCC on competition grounds. The new offer is understood to include the divestment of PMP’s Clayton Victoria plant, the largest printing plant in Australia, and according to Ross Jones, commissioner of the ACCC, has a much greater chance of succeeding.