More than 100 sawmill workers in the Bay of Plenty could lose their job after a major Rotorua employer was placed into receivership.

Tachikawa Forest Products, which is being handled by Kordamenta, was placed into receivership today, a move which is being described as a huge blow to the Bay of Plenty workforce, says the wood sector union.

Tachikawa Forest Products has been placed into receivership.

FIRST Union general secretary Robert Reid says the union had been aware of the financial problems of the company for some months and had been offering suggestions to the company.

'This receivership comes on top of a continuing contraction of wood processing firms and jobs in New Zealand.

'The high New Zealand dollar, the high price of logs and the lacking government procurement strategy around both the Canterbury rebuild and government house building programmes see the continuation of raw logs being exported across our wharves while workers lose their jobs in the sector.”

He says the union's number one priority is to do what it can to keep the mill going and to keep people in work.

'We will be talking to the new Mayor of Rotorua and local MPs about the situation.

'If there are job losses then the union will also be seeking support from government and the local authority to put in place a support programme for those people made redundant, such as the successful programme run by the union in 2009 when Christchurch textile firm Lane Walker Rudkin went into receivership.”

FIRST Union wood sector secretary Rawiri Daniels says a closure will have a huge impact on people.

'We represent two thirds of the 120 workers, almost all of whom are Maori and who, in turn, are supporting hundreds more whanau members with these jobs.

'Our union had been advising local iwi leaders of the situation facing Tachikawa and we will continue working with iwi to see if jobs can be saved.”

Rawiri says the union is disappointed that the business wasn't able to put together a recovery plan in place before the situation got this bad.

'It is the company's loyal and committed workforce and the wider Rotorua community who will bear the brunt if the mill closes.”

The union will meet with mill workers on Monday to discuss the situation.