The state president of the Australian Workers Union (AWU), Mick Madden, has called on Electrolux to convince the public of the long-term viability of the company in Orange.
Speaking after a meeting with company executives, Mr Madden said he believes the recent downsizing is death by 1,000 cuts for the workers.
Mr Madden wants the company to ask for voluntary redundancies rather than the forced redundancies of 200 workers, announced last week, from the company’s small refrigeration division.
He says after talks with Electrolux further job cuts could be a reality.
“The worrying factor was their reason for saying, no, there wouldn’t be voluntary redundancies this time, then there would be forced redundancies in the main factory at a later date,” he said.
“That signalled to us that this is not the end of job cuts in this factory, there’s going to be more.”
Mr Madden says the AWU will ask Orange City Council to host a community forum on the future of the Electrolux factory.
From ABC Australia
