Heyfield workers push for greater supply despite fears forests 'running out of wood'

CFMEU's national president says job losses are avoidable and interim wood supply offer is not enough

The union representing workers at Victoria's Heyfield sawmill says it will fight to increase the native timber supply after the Andrews government bought the business for more than $40m on Monday.

The Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union national president, Jane Calvert, said the government's in-principle agreement to buy the mill from the Hermal Group had removed the threat of forced redundancies, which Hermal was scheduled to begin in August with a view to closing the mill by 2018.