About 25 jobs at Bluescope Port Kembla’s slabyard will be lost as automated processes are brought in.
The Illawarra Mercury reports that workers in the slab-making section were told yesterday that 15 or 16 operators and eight to 10 tradesmen would lose their jobs at the yard, where slabs are stacked, moved by cranes, and then moved to be turned into strip or plate products.
The Australian Workers Union’s Wayne Phillips said further labour-intensive jobs would be lost through automation.
“But as industry develops and new things are invented and brought in, it will affect numbers around the plant,” he told the ABC.
“They are looking for volunteers to leave the industry, but I am sure the company will offer redeployment.”