Staff who had been outside, chatting and rushing a last-minute smoko before returning to their machines turned to see three senior Pacific Brands managers - and their hearts dropped.

A staff member had lost his job the day before and rumour was rife more would follow, but until that point it had just been nervous gossip.

Up the road at KingGee Bellambi, four Pacific Brands managers from Sydney were observed entering the meeting room, sparking a similar feeling of uncertainty across the factory floor.

The manufacturing industry had not been good for years and they wondered whether a few lay-offs might result.

The writing had clearly been showing on the stock exchange wall, but the share market was not a language the largely migrant workforce understood.

In a simultaneous announcement at 9.30am both factories learned the worst.

Bonds and KingGee would be closed within 12 months. They were all out of a job.

The announcement hit the region hard, not only for the loss of 281 jobs, but for the fact both factories - with their working class labels - were iconic to our culture and history.

The influx of European immigrants during the 1960s streamed in largely two directions - men to the steelworks and women to clothing factories that were dotted throughout the region, employing close to 3000 people.

The late 1960s represented the industry's peak, with as many as 20 factories operating, including Midford (two factories), Crystal Clothing (two), Freidelle (two), Stamina Clothing, Berlei, James North Company, Anvil Industries, Regal Shirts, White Wear at Oak Flats and Cleo's Cladders at Kiama.

But cheap Asian imports, together with lower tariffs, during the 1970s sounded the death knell for most until just three remained - Crystal Bears at Fairy Meadow, KingGee and Bonds.

KingGee Clothing Company was set up in Sydney in 1952 before