St John will lose sales rep under plan

Hawke's Bay St John will lose one staff member as part of a nationwide restructuring.
The only first aid kit and supplies sales representative based in Hawke's Bay is one of 80 St John workers in the North Island set to lose their jobs if the proposed plan goes ahead.
Hawke's Bay St John staff were made aware of the proposed changes to the organisation last night. Under the proposal the 80 jobs lost will be balanced out by the creation of 60 new jobs, with a large number of those expected to be based in Auckland.
St John chief executive Jaimes Wood said a review had established that the management structure could be altered to improve services and unify the company.
Jobs in human resources, corporate services, health services, marketing and communications, education activities and ambulance and event managers are all under threat.
Although the proposal is still at the discussion stage, St John human resources director Tom Dodd said it was "unlikely" that any more jobs would be lost in the Hawke's Bay region.
He said that the sales representative was the only one in the region and the disestablishment of the job was part of a change in the sale of kits and supplies.
Mr Dodd said they were hoping a third party would take up the sale of the kits and customers would be able to purchase them over the internet or directly from the organisation.
Consultation on the proposals involving volunteers will take place over the next two months with a decision expected to be announced in late June.
At present Hawke's Bay St John has 37 paid staff in Hawke's Bay - 12 paid ambulance officers in Hastings, 14 paid ambulance officers in Napier, four paid ambulance in Waipukurau and three in Wairoa. There are also three administration staff and the one first aid kits and supplies sales representative.