Another 39 jobs will vanish from the Illawarra steel industry from next week, with pipeline manufacturer OneSteel Oil and Gas Pipe the latest to announce redundancies.
About 50 per cent of the workforce will go, including 26 production jobs, five mechanical fitters, three electricians and five staff.
Workers told of the company's decision yesterday were "pretty much stunned", said Australian Workers' Union assistant branch secretary Wayne Phillips.
"We knew that business was tight - there's not many orders around - but I don't think anybody thought it would cut as deep as this."
The majority of redundancies will be involuntary, decided by a process the union has indicated it will contest.
"We think the length of service of a person should be taken into consideration and that's not taken into consideration in the company's proposal," Mr Phillips said.
"And there's no appeal process."
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