NSW: 230 jobs to go at Newcastle steel pipe plant

AAP General News (Australia)
08-17-2007
NSW: 230 jobs to go at Newcastle steel pipe plant

SYDNEY, Aug 17 AAP - Around 230 jobs at a steel pipe and tube product plant in Newcastle
will be lost as the company restructures operations.

Australian Tube Mills, a joint venture between OneSteel and Smorgon Steel, announced
today it was shutting two of its three mills at Mayfield.

However, around 50 employees will be reemployed at other sites in NSW and Victoria,
leaving 180 people out of work.

The company's general manager for corporate development and sustainability, Mark Gell,
said the restructure followed a review of operations undertaken in March.

"It's a decision we have to make, it's a hard decision we have to make," he told reporters.

"But, the reality is, we want to build a long-term sustainable business ... occasionally
we have to make hard decisions to get the business on a competitive footing."

Mr Gell said the company would offer a redundancy package of four weeks salary as well
as other services including helping redundant workers to find other employment.

Similar reviews were being conducted of other divisions within the merged Smorgon-OneSteel
company, he said.

The Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union (AMWU) said rumours that the merger would
result in significant job loses had been around for months.

"What we are seeing today is not only a devastating blow to the Hunter Valley but beyond
that to the entire Australian steel industry and our export market," AMWU official Steve
Murphy said.

"The federal government needs to immediately step in to provide support to the workers
and families who lose their incomes."

AAP nr/wjf/cjh/mn

KEYWORD: SMORGON LEAD

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