Thread: Geelong plant closure

There will be around 1200 jobs going in relation to Fords 600 employees

All the component suppliers, o/s maintenance companies even the lunch truck girl.....it keeps going and going

adds up to alot of people looking for jobs

Better than running at a loss and closing the entire lot down costing 3500+ jobs though isn't it....

The 'million dollar question'... How many employees there are driving a less than 5 year old Ford?

I know at Mitsubishi they had less than 5% of workers driving Mitsubishi products... If people purchased what they make it all helps....

Lets face it, with tarrifs as they are local car manufacturers are going to have to tighten belts....

I worked for Ford 25 years ago in Geelong. They kept threatening to close the plant and move operations to the Philippines every time we asked for a pay rise.

The Australian market is too small to support international industry. We will never compete with Asia on cost.

When I was at Ford we had 7000 workers, they have been shedding staff ever since the "Button Car Plan" of the 80's.

And the discount to employees who buy a car was about $200.00 then. You could get a better deal at any New Car place.

Australians think Ford and Holden exist to be great Aussie icons looking after the country. They forget that they are just the arms of large American business that are only in Australia to make a profit. If they can't make a profit they will alter what they are doing to try and do so. If that doesn't work they will take their bat and ball and go home. Whitness Nissan "Australia"

Originally Posted by tombraider

The 'million dollar question'... How many employees there are driving a less than 5 year old Ford?

you got it in one..
cant have your cake and eat it too..

The engine plant closure is stated to be because Australians are buying smaller cars - not Falcons and similar. Considering they have been being told to buy smaller cars for years, it should hardly come as a surprise to find it is finally happening, possibly helped by high fuel prices.

Considering that there is said to be a major and increasing shortage of labour at present, it does not appear to be a particularly bad time to have a plant shut down. I note the federal government is providing assistance to the area - there was none of that when the state government shut down the timber industry round here in the middle of a record drought (to get the green votes); the numbers may have been much smaller, but the proportion of people affected was probably larger, causing several towns to turn into pretty much ghost towns.

John

Originally Posted by Captain_Rightfoot

Australians think Ford and Holden exist to be great Aussie icons looking after the country. They forget that they are just the arms of large American business that are only in Australia to make a profit. If they can't make a profit they will alter what they are doing to try and do so. If that doesn't work they will take their bat and ball and go home. Whitness Nissan "Australia"

And VW, Even GMH has had to move operations from Fishermans bend to Elizibeth in SA as running 2 engine plants in OZ was just too exy for GM to justify.

I know it's a lot of people looking for work Ray but they have 3 years to do so.

Natural attrition will make up about a third of that anyway and the other 2/3's are getting a push into doing something else.

Dont forget, in places like that, someone retires about once a month and there is always a turn over of staff, they just wont put any new full time staff on in the next 3 years and use casuals and then move some of what they have left through to the chassis and testing facility and some will get shifted to Broadmedows if they want to move up to Melbourne.

There will probably in the end be 150 to 200 people that will be getting jobs outside ford from this in reality.

What peaves me more than anything is the TV and union beat up and no rational thinking goes into it just scare campain...."This could happen to you" sort of thing.