Whyalla’s resolve tested as OneSteel faces closure

NOT for the first time, the resilience of the Whyalla community is to be tested. And while business leaders say the town is up for the fight, they also say it will need help.

Whyalla Steel works possible closure. Tyler Callaghan 19 Student, Liz Attard from Expresso Cafe, Matt Kiosoglous former steel worker, Sukhrai Kaur Randhawa from Threading Hair and Beauty all of Whyalla. Picture Campbell Brodie.

• Whyalla facing closure, needs bailout to save 3000 jobs
• OneSteel must cut costs or faces closure
• Steel industry in a fight to survive cheap imports
• Iluka to mothball SA mine, cut 33 jobs
• SA manufacturer pulls the pin and slams free trade agreements

NOT for the first time, the resilience of the Whyalla community is to be tested.

And while business leaders say the town is up for the fight, they also say it will need help.

The mood on Wednesday in the community of 22,000 was one of determination and unity, despite the obvious implication that if Arrium can’t find the steelworks savings it needs, the lifeblood of the town may cease to exist.

Ron Hay, the proprietor of audio business ProCo and president of Whyalla’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry, warned that panic must not prevail. Unwilling to be drawn on what the town’s future would look like if the steelworks were mothballed, he said an “inward attitude” and urgent government assistance were equally important.

“Residents need to buy local, support local businesses,” he said.

The plethora of recent job losses in the region had created cautiousness in spending, he said, but retailers had recorded a “fairly steady” Christmas.

“We’re a very resilient community but we do need help and as a key organisation in town, we are sending a strong message that we need governments of all persuasions to step up and help save the steel industry,” he said.

Steelcaster Steven Byrne said the mood inside the OneSteel plant was despondent after a meeting held early on during the day shift.

Workers were not given specific numbers of lay-offs but word quickly spread that as many as 400 redundancies were under consideration

“We’ve just been through the whole doom and gloom of losing 250 blokes (laid off in January) and now it looks like another 400 will go if not shut down the whole thing,” the married father of a nine-year-old boy said.

“Everyone feels like they’ve been s**t on again. We’ve just avoided the noose and now it’s another death sentence.

“Everything is shut down a the moment and the word on the floor is there’s a strong chance they’re going to shut it down (the plant) and just keep up basic maintenance in the hope things improve.”

Arrium said that no decision had yet been made on further job losses and a number of different options would be considered.

Mr Byrne said workers had their suspicions raised recently with the blast furnace being shut down on a regular basis.

“The blast furnace goes down for 48 hours every two to three weeks now,” he added.

“They say it’s for maintenance but I think we can all work out what’s going on.”

Mr Byrne, who has lived in Whyalla since moving with family from Wallaroo aged 3, said he didn’t know what his future held.

“I’ve got my own little family here with a kid and a missus and I’ve never considered moving anywhere else or doing anything else.

“They said they keep us up to date but we’re normally the last to hear and have to read in the paper.”

Local businesswoman Ruth Vincent, who runs the Pretty Country Things haberdashery store, close to Hummock Hill that overlooks the steelworks where her husband has worked for almost 38 years, says that “it’s not good for the morale of the town”.

Ms Vincent has previously sold a number of sewing machines for $10,000, but sales at that price could be a thing of the past.

Whyalla residents Tyler Callaghan, Liz Attard, Matt Kiosoglous, a former steelworker, and Sukhrai Kaur Randhawa. Picture: Campbell Brodie

“I’ve had this business now for four years and we’ll just see how we go, but we really do want to stay in the town,” she said.

Long-time Espresso Cafe owner Liz Attard, whose partner is also employed at the steelworks, said Wednesday’s developments came as no surprise.

“People will pull together and we just need to keep thinking positively because you’re never sure what’s around the corner,” she said.

“When the pokies came to town was the biggest downturn, and we survived that.”

Sukhrag Kaur, a 31-year-old former Sydneysider, has run the Threading Hair and Beauty Salon for three years.

“It’s beautiful, I love it here, so the news is a real worry,” she said.

“I’ve got two kids and we want to raise them here, so hopefully they can keep the works going.”

Tyler Callaghan, 19, grew up in Whyalla before moving to Adelaide for university. Many of his friends got jobs at Arrium and they have been stressed and nervous in recent times, he said.

“For people of my age, if it closes, I don’t think they will stay,” he said.

“It can be hard to pick yourself back up and people will look to leave and find work somewhere else.”

OneSteel operations in Whyalla, as seen from the air.

Dan Tucker, spokesman for business networking group Whyalla 1st, is not surprised about residents’ concern.

“Some business owners are feeling the pinch over the last 18 months as people have left town,” he said.

“We see it as our role to relay information and hold forums, community get-togethers, so people get the right information.”

When news broke in morning, acting mayor Tom Antonio convened an urgent meeting of key stakeholders, including senior council executives and federal Liberal MP for Grey Rowan Ramsey.

The local state MP, Labor’s Eddie Hughes, a former Arrium worker, said that the State Government was determined to help.

“We did not walk away from the Port Pirie community (where that town’s lead smelter is being redeveloped) and we will not walk away from the Whyalla community,” he said.

Aaron Cartledge, state secretary of the CFMEU, which represents around a quarter of OneSteel workers, said the news was “another blow for a region that has already taken a number of serious hits”.

“An assistance package from the Federal Government needs to be negotiated urgently. They’re the main players in this,” he said.