It's been an uneasy winter for workers across key Tasmanian manufacturing sites, and recent government support at Nyrstar and Liberty Bell Bay has been welcomed by AWU members.
Nyrstar's Hobart zinc smelter has been under a cloud for months, due to rising operational costs and cut-price exports from China, and the AWU has been calling for assistance to secure the livelihoods of 1400 workers across Port Pirie and Hobart. In August, state and federal governments announced a joint rescue package worth $135 million, which will fund ongoing operations and upgrades to the furnace and wharf at Hobart.
The Tasmanian government has also committed a $20 million loan to ensure operations continue at the Liberty Bell Bay smelter, after the facility was forced into limited operations for a month over winter. A tropical cyclone disrupted ore supply in May, and workers were stood down for four weeks as owners GFG Alliance struggled to secure financing for a new ore shipment.
With this funding, the ore shipment has finally arrived, and workers at the smelter have been busy preparing the plant for the vessel's arrival. We hope full production will commence very soon and workers can get back to doing what they do best!
While the Tasmanian government has supported our manufacturing members, they're willing to leave thousands of blue-collar workers in our salmon industry in limbo in a desperate attempt to appease the Greens.
Premier Jeremy Rockliff has pledged to launch an independent review of the Tasmanian Salmon industry, in exchange for the Green's support to form government. This comes just six weeks after Rockliff promised to not trade the salmon industry 'in any way, shape or form' to retain power.
This is incredibly disappointing for hundreds of AWU members across the state, and the union will do everything we can to protect our members' jobs and their communities.
Salmon is the most heavily regulated primary industry in Tasmania, and we won't let environmental extremists and political opportunists destroy the livelihoods of hardworking Tasmanians without a fight!
