At 7am on Thursday BlueScope workers will vote on the future of the Port Kembla steelworks.
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According to a union official the BlueScope workforce will meet at the Fraternity Club on Thursday morning to vote on the cost-cutting proposal from the company.
In August BlueScope CEO Paul O’Malley set a cost-cutting target of $200 million, including up to 500 jobs.
The union official has said that $200 million target has been reached through a range of measures including just under 400 redundancies, loss of bonuses for staff and a three-year wage freeze.
There will be 228 jobs go on the factory floor and around 140 staff.
“We’re hoping we get enough voluntary [redundancies],” the official said.
“It’s part of the proposal that the company will then go through its selection criteria but there could well be forced redundancies or VR swaps.”
While the losses have yet to be approved by the workers, the official said there is already some movement from employees.
“A lot of people have already put their hands up and people are on their way out even as we we speak,” the official said.
The official said the only hiccup in reaching the savings target was the NSW’s government’s “wishy-washy” approach as to making concessions on BlueScope’s multi-million payroll tax.
On Thursday, some workers will also vote on their EBA that has been negotiated in tandem with the cuts, despite initial plans to put it to the side to deal with later.
The official said after the vote, Mr O’Malley would still need to recommend to the board that Port Kembla remain open.
”There are no guarantees but if the decision is ‘no’ then the decision will be made for everybody in the Illawarra,” he said.
The official was expecting a “Yes” vote on Thursday but felt some workers may find it hard to vote away a number of hard-won conditions.
“I’m hoping it will go that way,” he said.
“I have to think the majority of people will be smart enough to swallow a bit of pride and get it through.
“But there’s certainly going to be some negativity towards that I can guarantee that.
“For the future of the region and the kids and the grandkids, it’s unthinkable that we would let it go over some conditions, as unpalatable as it is.”
