Unions representing hundreds of workers at Liberty Bell Bay have called on the Tasmanian and Federal Governments to move urgently to guarantee workers' wages, after the site's administrator told 181 workers to take leave without pay next week or be sacked.
216 workers at the strategically vital manganese smelter received the chilling ultimatum at 10am today, with only 35 workers to be kept on.
Administration is expected to run for months before any sale. But as it stands, the administrator only has funding to deliver all workers their wages until 24 April.
This is despite the administrator telling workers it is confident it will find a purchaser. The administrator could not identify how long workers would be on leave without pay.
Bell Bay Joint Unions - the Australian Workers' Union (AWU), Mining and Energy Union (MEU), Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union (AMWU) and Communications, Electrical and Plumbing Union (CEPU) - said it is now time for the Tasmanian and Federal Governments to step in and safeguard workers' wages.
"We are calling on Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockcliff and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese get these workers paid - otherwise by the time this site is ready to resume production there'll be no-one to run it," said AWU Assistant National Secretary Chris Donovan.
"Like a lot of families, these workers live paycheque to paycheque, they just can't absorb weeks of no income, they'll have to move on and find new jobs or leave the area," Mr Donovan said.
"Buyers are interested because this is a going concern. But without workers it's not a smelter, it's just a building and a pile of ore. Securing wages is a crucial step to keeping this operation alive while a sale is finalised."
"The whole site is dangerously close to collapse."
MEU General President Grahame Kelly said that today's announcement proves Tasmanian and Federal Government intervention is critical.
"One month ago, workers at Tahmoor Colliery were told they could only retain their employment if they agreed to go unpaid. Today, the same ultimatum was levelled at Bell Bay workers. It's now undeniable that the fallout of the collapsing GFG empire is a national crisis demanding the attention of state and federal governments," Mr Kelly said.
"Workers cannot be expected to pay the price for an overseas billionaire's financial mismanagement. The government is not responsible for this economic vandalism, but they do have a duty to avert potential economic disaster."
The smelter is the fifth largest of its kind outside China, with its manganese output a vital ingredient to Australian-made steel and other metal products. It plays a critical role in Australia's industrial ecosystem, supplying manganese to the Port Kembla and Whyalla steelworks and supporting hundreds of additional jobs across Northern Tasmania.
The site's reliance on hydroelectricity also makes it a leading example of green heavy industry – positioning it strongly for the future.
"Premier Rockcliffe and Prime Minister Albanese could solve this with the stroke of a pen," Mr Donovan said.
