BlueScope does not expect to face industrial action from unions trying to fight the mass job cuts at the Port Kembla steelworks, chief executive Paul O’Malley said today.

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BLUESCOPE EXPLAINS: Why we had to cut jobs

Full text of BlueScope’s announcement to ASX

PASCOE’S VIEW: Why BlueScope's losses are a good signAt a briefing in Sydney Mr O’Malley announced a full-year loss of $1.054 billion and confirmed the company would be cutting 1000 jobs - 200 of them at Westernport in Victoria but the majority at Port Kembla.At Port Kembla, the No.6 blast furnace will be shut down and put into “care and maintenance” mode. One of four coke ovens will be closed, as will one of the three Basic Oxygen Steelmaking (BOS) units and one of three slab casters.Australian Workers Union national secretary Paul Howes, in Port Kembla today, called this the worst crisis for Australian manufacturing since the Great Depression. Mr O’Malley said the redundancies would be negotiated in the coming weeks but said unions understood the pressures facing the steel industry.“I think we have been very transparent as to the macroeconomic factors,” he said.“[For] anyone associated with our industry, in fact it should come as no surprise that these issues have been affecting steel in Australia.“We will absolutely engage with our employees and all other stakeholders including the unions, and I think the unions have come out today acknowledging the macroeconomic factors.“So as long as we deal with our people with respect and continue to focus transparently on the issues we’re dealing with, I suspect that everyone should be in alignment to achieve this restructure as easily as possible without any barriers because that’s the best thing for maximum employment, not only in the short term but in the medium term.”Mr O’Malley said the cuts were necessary to get BlueScope back to profitability. He said the company had been making more money from its Asian operations than from its Australian businesses.

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Industrial action not predicted: O'Malley

See the drama in pictures here

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