A total of 185 people have lost their jobs after the collapse of the printing firm Geon.
The TransTasman printing firm employed about 300 people at sites in Wellington, Auckland and Napier.
Last month, McGrath Nicol was appointed after the firm went into voluntary administration.
The receiver sold the printing business to Blue Star Group last week.
Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union organiser Joe Gallagher says Blue Star announced on Friday it will close the Wellington plant and cut production in Napier by half.
Mr Gallagher says the writing was on the wall that jobs would be lost but the news is still a shock for workers.
He says it's an extremely distressing time for them and their families but the union will work with the new owners to make the redundancy process as painless as possible.
