cat to cut 280 jobs in tassie., page-2

Caterpillar axes 280 Tas jobs

The effects of the job cuts will flow to other north-west businesses. (ABC News: Jacqueline Street)


Jobs to go as businesses feel the pinch:Unions fear the 280 jobs being axed from Burnie's machinery manufacturer, Caterpillar, are the tip of the iceberg.

The company says it is shedding the workers to cope with a downturn in orders in the global recession.

Caterpillar has offered redundancies to the 280 employees who will go at the end of the month.

Of that number, 220 are production workers and 60 are support staff who work in underground mining.

Shane Littler from the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union says the remaining workers are worried about the plant's long-term future.

"With 280 gone it doesn't leave many left at that particular site," he said.

The Premier, David Bartlett, says the best way the government can help is to keep the economy strong in other sectors.

He says goverment funding for the construction and agribusiness sectors will hopefully provide new employment opportunities for the Caterpillar workers.

"We're going to do everything we can to keep the economy strong in other sectors to ensure displaced workers have the ability to get another job," he said "so that displaced workers have the best possible opportunity to get a new job."

Caterpillar announced in January that 20,000 people would lose their jobs worldwide.

The Federal Labor Member for Braddon, Sid Sidebottom, says the job cuts were confirmed by the company yesterday.

"I'm very, very saddened by this," he said.

"Unfortunately it's been in the atmosphere for some time and we've just go to do whatever we can to help these people through a very, very difficult period and hopefully this economy will turn around."

Caterpillar employs 700 people in Burnie.

The Burnie City Council's general manager Paul Arnold has told ABC Local Radio the flow-on effect in the north-west will be huge.

"There'll be a lot of other businesses and engineering firms caught up in the supply chain that will also have to adjust themselves, and I think it's a pretty bleak outlook for winter coming on for the region," he said.