The announcement that Australian paper maker Paperlinx will close its mill at Burnie in the north-west of Tasmania is a blow for the workers, their families, and the local economy.
Paperlinx met with workers this morning to announce the closure, which will leave up to 222 people without work.
The figure includes 165 workers at TasPaper and about 57 Silcar maintenance employees.
AWMU Regional Print Division Secretary Donna Sargant believes the plant will be shut down in stages commencing in June 2010.
“The paper machine will stop production during June and then the conversion area where they sheet the paper will close during July,” she said.
The company closed its Wesley Vale mill in March 2010 and made 252 workers redundant, but they had hoped to sell the Burnie facility to Asian interests and save the remaining jobs.
A group of potential buyers have toured the mill several times since Paperlinx announced it was on the market, and Ms Sargant said the AMWU members were hopeful that a buyer would be found.
“The trials they did in December running pulp from the interested party were all positive. The paper that was produced was good quality so we were hopeful the jobs would be maintained but unfortunately the offer they made wasn’t satisfactory.”
The company announced this morning on the Australian Stock Exchange that it would cease operations in Tasmania at an estimated cost of $10-20 million.
The union collective agreement covering workers at Parperlinx ensures those who are made redundant will receive four weeks pay for every year of service to the company.
Ms Sargant said the combined mill closures will have a devastating impact on the local economy and affect over 500 families.
“This will affect a lot of families who have mortgages and other bills to pay and young apprentices as well. There are about 10 apprentices on site and the AMWU is working to get them relocated,” she said.
“The closure will have a significant flow-on affect in terms of employment and spending. It will affect transport companies and logistics firms, maintenance contractors and small business owners as well.”
Employment opportunities in north-west Tasmania are limited, but Ms Sargant is hopeful more jobs can be created out of the North West and Northern Tasmania Innovation and Investment Fund, which is supported by state and federal governments.
She said the union is also lobbying for the allocation of training and assessment money to assist retrenched AMWU members.
“We’re doing as much as we can to get government departments to make sure our members have access to training money if it’s available. We’re also lobbying to get money for vocational assessments from the state government to see if there are opportunities for retraining,” she said.