Shipbuilder ASC to make nearly 100 workers redundant as work dries up
MORE than 90 Adelaide jobs are at risk after shipbuilder ASC announced further redundancies on Monday.
- BAE preferred supplier Redarc kickstarts frigates jobs boom
- ‘High to extreme risk’ in $90 billion naval shipbuilding plan
- 480 shipbuilding jobs lost from ASC during ‘Valley of Death’
MORE than 90 Adelaide jobs are at risk after shipbuilder ASC announced further redundancies on Monday.
While there was no guarantee that all jobs were safe after the Federal Government announced that BAE would partner with ASC on the $35 billion Future Frigates project, workers were optimistic that jobs would be protected.
The Communications, Electrical and Plumbing Union of Australia said it had been assured by Defence Industry Minister Christopher Pyne that he had fixed the situation of ongoing redundancies as work on the Air Warfare Destroyers wound up.
But Mr Pyne has laid the blame at Labor’s feet.
In a statement, ASC Shipbuilding said it took the action “reluctantly” and only after looking for other opportunities for workers. It will now start a six-week process to find people jobs elsewhere or offer them voluntary packages.
It said that, once the frigates program started in 2020, “it is anticipated that many former shipbuilding employees will have the opportunity to return to the company in due course”.
BAE Systems Australia said in a statement it was still in contract negotiations with the Federal Government over the frigates deal and was still working out its “resourcing plan for the future”.
“We are also working with ASC Shipbuilding to identify opportunities within our broader Australian workforce to help minimise the impact of labour force reductions that ASC Shipbuilding have announced today,” it stated.
Most of those targeted are electricians.
CEPU assistant secretary Simon Pisoni said it was disappointed by the decision.
“We had feedback that BAE did not want any further redundancies, that they wanted to hang on to the skills that were there,” he said.
“We’re curious about what (Mr) Pyne’s office is doing because he’s given us assurances that he had fixed it.
“He says there’s no more Valley of Death, but then we have redundancies.”
Mr Pyne said the Federal Government was creating thousands of jobs and had secured ASC’s future with the BAE deal, but was going through a “period of transition”.
Meanwhile, the Australian National Audit Office has kicked along an ongoing battle with Defence.
The ANAO said Defence would need extra money for its $90 billion naval shipbuilding plan, or should reveal the “capability trade-offs” that will need to be considered. Defence said it updated its cost assumptions twice a year.