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Deane Apparel in Christchurch is closing in December.
About 70 jobs will be lost after New Zealand clothing manufacturer Deane Apparel confirmed it is to close its Christchurch factory just before Christmas.
The predominantly female workforce was told on Wednesday they will be jobless from December 23.
The family business was founded in 1932 and has sites in Christchurch and a distribution centre in Auckland.
It designs, makes and supplies overalls and uniforms to Kiwi businesses, including Cleanaway, Foodstuffs and Fonterra.
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The Christchurch factory specialises in bespoke, made-to-order garments, but the company says it customers have increasingly opted for off-the-shelf items, meaning the site has run at a loss for several years.
On average, staff have worked at Deane for 15 years, but two have more than 40 years of service.
First Union’s southern regional secretary Paul Watson said staff were “frustrated” about being laid off just before Christmas.
“This is a mainly mature and female workforce that are highly skilled, and they’ve been through a brutal year of redundancies, reduced hours and compromises in an attempt to keep the business open,” he said.
