The manufacturing industry has been dealt another blow with both Mortein and Holden announcing hundreds of job losses yesterday, as industry veterans slammed the Government and blamed Fair Work legislation for taking the industry back decades.
Those comments came as prime minister Julia Gillard sympathised with the industry’s hardship, saying the high Australian dollar – which has now broken above $US1.07c – is wounding local business.
The situation is so bad executive chairman of Manufacturing Australia Dick Warburton said his lobby group will begin striking out against the Government’s industrial relations policies.
“It is allowing unionists to have a much greater say in what are really management decisions. Management is resisting that, but the unions are saying that is our field,” he said.
“As a consequence you are getting more disputes. You are seeing a reduction in flexibility in the workplace and you are starting to get ideological stands on what a union will do.”
Warburton said the group’s members are concerned about a number of issues including low productivity, taxes, including the carbon tax, and workplace relations itself.
“The government has made it clear they don’t see any need to change. That’s where I get pessimistic. They have made it quite clear that productivity was not going to be a part of it, and yet that is the biggest thing we need.”
He noted the loss of 85,000 jobs over the past two years within the industry, saying Australia is at risk of an unbalanced economy.
“We are really down to mining, tourism, and financial services. You need manufacturing to balance those.”
But yesterday, more manufacturing jobs went on the chopping block. Holden said its casual workforce would be letting go of a certain number of jobs, while Reckitt Benckiser, producer of the Mortein fly spray, shut down its manufacturing plan.
The Australian Manufacturing Workers Union has expressed its disappointment in both the decisions, complaining there had been no discussion with staff.
But as Gillard said yesterday to the Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce, the industry is undergoing a structural shift and as long as the dollar remains high, manufacturers will continue to suffer.
“We never really wanted to compete on price alone,” Gillard told the Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce. “But now it’s just as well because at parity with the US we can’t.
“It’s as if the world is turning up the speed on the treadmill while we’re exercising.”
Last week Toyota said it would cut over 300 jobs, while last year steel manufacturers announced their own layoffs. And although the Australian Industry Group said yesterday in new research the industry is expanding, there is no doubt the sector has shed hundreds of jobs.
Warburton has said it was disappointing to see minister Kim Carr moved out of cabinet, with manufacturing now shared between three ministers.
“And Carr is not even in the Cabinet,” he said. “It sends a signal that manufacturing is being downgraded.”
Patrick Stafford is a freelance journalist and a former deputy editor of SmartCompany.
