Critical Times

SOME 49 workers who say they were stood down without pay at a car parts firm have occupied the factory in Victoria’s southwest.
Workers at Coghlan and Russell Engineering in Geelong were stood down yesterday without pay or assurances they would receive almost $1.5 million they were owed in entitlements, the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU) said.

The factory went into administration on Wednesday in what the union said could again put the country’s automotive industry at risk of shut-down.

“There is no money to pay the entitlements of these workers and they have occupied the site,” AMWU acting Victorian secretary Steve Dargavel said.

The union said the factory went into administration following a downturn in six-cylinder vehicle sales from Ford and Holden and owed money to Ford following a contract dispute.