By Benjamin Millar
More than 80 West Footscray textile workers could soon swell the dole queues after a decision by Defence to ditch local uniform supplier WorkWear Group.
The situation adds to job woes in the west, with an uncertain future for 130 workers stood down from Brooklyn meatworks JBS Australia due to a drop in demand for lamb.
The Defence Materiel Organisation has ended its decade-long order with WorkWear Group for Australian Defence Force uniforms, awarding the contract instead to Australian Defence Apparel in Bendigo. WorkWear Group has been producing an average of 130,000 uniforms each year, including the Multicam Combat Uniform used by Australian fighters in Afghanistan’s urban, desert and green environments.
The Textile Clothing and Footwear Union of Australia’s national secretary, Michele O’Neil, who joined workers in protest outside the site on Thursday, said losing the order could spell the end for the plant and its 80-plus workers.
Victorian Industry Minister Lily D’Ambrosio has written to Defence Minister Kevin Andrews to argue that the closure of WorkWear would destroy jobs as well as the supply chain. “It’s as senseless as it is heartless,” she said.
Gellibrand MP Tim Watts said the potential loss of about 80 jobs at West Footscray came on top of 1000 manufacturing jobs at risk due to uncertainty over naval shipbuilding contracts.
“Workers at the BAE Shipyard in Williamstown and in shipyards right across Australia are desperately waiting for some kind of certainty about future build programs that their livelihoods depend on,” Mr Watts said.
A Defence spokeswoman played down concerns the move would send manufacturing offshore. “Unfortunately, due to the WorkWear Group significantly increasing its prices, its bid was not competitive with the alternative Australian manufacturer,” she said.
In a statement, a WorkWear Group spokeswoman said the company was “reviewing the future of its facility amid challenging conditions in the defence uniform market”.
An announcement on the future for workers will be made by Thursday.
The fate of the 130 JBS Australia workers could remain unknown for months. Their ongoing work will depend on future supply and demand for lamb meat.
