From Fairfax:
Unions are meeting with BlueScope this morning after it was revealed the Port Kembla Steelworks may close if major cost savings aren’t achieved.
Up to 1000 jobs are directly at risk, the Illawarra Mercury reported.
AWU branch secretary Wayne Phillips said the company had given direction to workers to find savings of $50 per tonne of steel and if that wasn’t achieved, one option may be to shut the steel-making plant.
“They’ve been looking it for a few months, on the quiet. We’ve heard rumours, which have all been denied, but now it’s out in the open.
With China flooding the world with steel that is cheaper than lettuce (literally), this is no great surprise as it continues the decimation of Australian manufacturing.
It’s a blessing, really, given the unemployed can get higher paid jobs so that they can afford a house up the road.
