WORKERS in northern suburbs industries hit by the closure of Ford’s Broadmeadows plant have a bleak future, according to a manager of a plastic extrusion company.
The manager, who did not want to be named, said employees of supply chain industries dependent on Ford faced poor redundancy packages.
“While Ford workers will get redundancy packages worth $100,000 and more, we employees in the associated industry have an industry award of 12 weeks pay, plus an extra week for people over 45,” the manager said.
“I will have little to show after 21 years in the industry and it is the associated industries that need retraining packages and we need to know what we will be retrained in.
“There are employees whose companies are in the north, like Thomastown, Preston and Campbellfield, and they live in places like Thomastown, Doreen, Mernda, Mill Park and Lalor, and we need help.”
The manager said his company had cut staff from about 150 to about 50 in the past decade, and he expected further cuts even before the Ford plant closed.
Australian Industry Group chief executive Innes Willox said the closure of Ford’s Broadmeadows plant would have a ripple effect.
“It has sent shockwaves not only along the auto sector’s supply chains but across the broader manufacturing industry,” he said.
“Component suppliers reliant solely or mainly on Ford are particularly concerned about their own viability, the fate of their employees, the returns on capital equipment they have invested in as part of their relationships with Ford and, of course, the readiness of their bankers to maintain credit lines and give them room to adjust.”
