State and federal government infrastructure projects would be built using at least 50 per cent Australian steel, under protectionist measures endorsed by Port Kembla steelworkers amid growing jobs uncertainty.
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A combined steel unions meeting at Port Kembla Leagues Club on Wednesday night voted to make attempts to secure the commitment from governments.
Union representatives will ask local politicians to endorse the measures.
South Coast Labour Council secretary Arthur Rorris told workers Australia was alone in not legislating to protect its domestic steel market.
‘‘Every public project that’s using your money as taxpayers should [use] a component of Australian steel, even if it was 50 per cent,’’ he said.
‘‘Anyone who tells you we can’t do it because of our trade agreements needs to ask how the Americans do it, how the Canadians do it, how the Chinese do it.’’
Unions had pushed for a mandated domestic requirement in the past, but the issue had now reached ‘‘critical’’ status, Mr Rorris told the Mercury.
‘‘Our game-changer is about demand for domestic steel and simply doing what every other government around the world is doing, and that’s buying domestic steel,’’ he said.
‘‘It’s times like this, when you’ve got a critical juncture, a critical moment in the steel industry, that it becomes a critical question,’’ he said.
Last month BlueScope told the stock exchange the company was looking for a game-changing approach to significantly cut its costs, sparking renewed talk of job cuts.
Wednesday night’s meeting launched a public campaign aimed at building community support for the industry.
Members were updated on ongoing negotiations with BlueScope over a new enterprise agreement, which hinges on 18 points of contention relating to workers’ pay and conditions.
AWU branch secretary Wayne Phillips told members the question of how to save the steelworks had gone unanswered.
‘‘I think the [company] has lost their steering... and don’t know where to go,’’ he told them.
‘‘We need to do something to save our industry.’’
Workers further endorsed a union push to see management roles included in any efficiency and cost-cutting reviews, and agreed such reviews should extend to the bonuses paid to senior managers as part of their salary packages.
‘‘When the supervisor asks you what positions have got to go, you tell him, ‘yours’,’’ Mr Phillips told the gathering of more than 400 workers.
‘‘There is no reason you have to have two or three management ... on your crew, when you are the experts.’’
The campaign is supported by a change.org petition (Port Kembla Steel: Buy it Here – Keep it Here) and a Facebook page – Save Our Steel in Port Kembla.
