AUSTRALIA 16000 CONSTRUCTION JOBS IN MINING SECTOR TO DISAPPEAR NEXT YEAR IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA AS TWO MINE PROJECTS NEARLY COMPLETION WITH HUNDREDS OF JOBS ALREADY AXED THIS YEAR AND UNIONS REPRESENTING 75000 WORKERS CALLING FOR URGENT JOBS SUMMIT UNIONS representing 75,000 WA workers have called for an “urgent” jobs summit amid fears our economy is “driving off a cliff”. Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union state secretary Steve McCartney said the hundreds of jobs shed in the past few months by resources companies could be dwarfed by the bloodletting to come in the next two years. “Both the Gorgon LNG project and Roy Hill iron ore mine will complete construction next year – leaving 10,000 construction workers looking for new jobs. “With the Wheatstone LNG project set to be completed in 2016, another 6000 construction jobs will go.” About 200 miners were let go this week by Mount Gibson Iron. And the iron ore price slump forced Atlas Iron to announce on Thursday it would shed about 80 employees. Mr McCartney said 1300 jobs had been lost in the manufacturing industry alone in the past 12 months. The Barnett Government is also looking for 1500 voluntary redundancies in the public sector as part of cost-cutting. Mr McCartney said an urgent summit of political, business and union leaders to develop a jobs plan was critical. Other high-profile union leaders have supported his call. United Voice state secretary Carolyn Smith said that her members were facing “hundreds of redundancies” in schools, hospitals and the Water Corporation. Electrical Trades Union state secretary Les McLaughlan said a “priority” should be “the rorting of the 457 visa system by employers”, an issue also highlighted by Maritime Union of Australia state secretary Christy Cain. The Australian Services Union, the Health Services Union and the State School Teachers’ Union have also backed a jobs summit.
Posted on: Mon, 29 Dec 2014 03:23:25 +0000
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