Unions wants tariffs protected after Ford job losses
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Ford: Jobs to go at Victorian plants (ABC: Jonathan Beal, file photo)
The Manufacturing Workers Union says Ford's decision to cut hundreds more jobs in Victoria reveals the need to freeze car tariffs at 10 per cent.
The company will axe up to 350 jobs at its Geelong and Broadmeadows manufacturing plants by the end of the year.
The announcement follows the Bracks review of the car industry, which called for tariffs to be halved to 5 per cent by 2010.
The union's national secretary, Dave Oliver, says the Government needs to act quickly on the report's other recommendations.
"It also reinforces the union's call to the Government not to reduce tariffs any further while we've got these pressures on with the companies," he said.
"It doesn't make sense that we're going to rush ahead of the rest of the world in some cases to reduce our tariffs from 10 to 5 per cent, when countries such as Malaysia have a tariff regime of 300 per cent."
Victorian Industry Minister Theo Theophanous says he is confident the automotive industry has a strong future in the state.
"We're disappointed and obviously we're concerned about the workers themselves that have lost or potentially will lose their jobs and we'll certainly do whatever we can to ensure that they're looked after," he said.
"But the industry itself, as a whole, is still very strong."
The Federal Opposition says the spate of job losses around the nation is because of an economic slowdown since the last election.
The Coalition says that as well as the jobs lost from Ford, 450 jobs have been cut from Perilya in Broken Hill and 160 will go at Cadbury in Tasmania.
Opposition industry spokesman Eric Abetz says the Ford jobs are going because consumer confidence is down and people are buying fewer cars.
Senator Abetz says the Government caused confusion by saying the economy was overheated.
"They actually have to study the economics and come out with a consistent line and when you have that sort of consistency that is when consumers and business get confidence to invest for the future and to make the sorts of decisions as to whether or not they can buy a new motor vehicle," he said.
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