Around 70 people employed at Carter Holt Harvey are set to lose their jobs just before Christmas.

Rotorua and Tokoroa staff face the prospect of having no income over Christmas and union members are meeting today to discuss the situation.

Current proposals will see 18 positions at the Tokoroa plywood plant axed, while the closure of its Rotorua Profile plant will see more than 50 jobs, including contractors, go.

The proposed job loses is due to the fall in demand from export markets in Australia and a lack of new building developments in New Zealand, reports the company.

EPMU timber industry organiser Ron Angel says the announcement is bleak news just weeks before Christmas.

'This is the last thing people need in the lead up to Christmas.

'Our members had expected this may be in the pipeline, but there had been hope the Christchurch rebuild would provide enough work to keep things going. Sadly, this hasn't eventuated.”

Ron says given there's another hundred jobs set to go at the Norske Skog paper mill in Kawerau in January, it's not going to be easy for people to find alternative employment in the area.

He says union members will receive redundancy payments but that'll only last for so long.

'These redundancies are yet another sign that New Zealand manufacturing is in crisis.

'We urgently need a strategy from the Government to stop the decline in our manufacturing sector and create jobs in places like Rotorua and Tokoroa.”

The EPMU is supporting the Parliamentary Inquiry into the crisis in manufacturing, which was launched at the union's Jobs Crisis Summit last month.