OneSteel workforce meets to protest lack of respect for the Hunter

AWU National Secretary, Paul Howes, will speak on Wednesday morning to a 7am meeting of Newcastle’s OneSteel Bar Mill workers hit by the Friday, February 15, 2008, announcement of the closure of the Bar Mill in Mayfield.

The meeting will highlight the company's lack of respect for the workforce, and the Hunter community, who have been loyal to this highly profitable plant.

" This has been a body blow for steelworkers, their families and our Steel Communities. OneSteel boasts of a commitment to its people. This boast sounds very hollow to the workforce," Mr Howes says.

The AWU will work to ensure maximum entitlements are paid by OneSteel to the sacked workforce to help them find new jobs, get appropriate training and relocate if necessary.

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" For too long now we have been going in the wrong direction as we watch our heavy manufacturing industries collapse because of the lack of investment, government incentives and R&D."

Read earlier OneSteel stories

• AWU angered by OneSteel slash and burn plant closures

• Steel needs vision for its long-term future: The Newcastle Herald