Thursday April 17, 10:27 AM

Union pushes for F&P plant to stay open

The Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU) has sought urgent talks with Fisher & Paykel Appliances management to convince the company to keep open its Brisbane manufacturing plant. The New Zealand-based whitegoods manufacturer Thursday announced it would move three manufacturing facilities in Brisbane, New Zealand and the US to Thailand, Mexico and Italy, citing high costs at the existing plants. The company blamed the high cost on exchange rates, higher interest rates, complex and expensive compliance costs and competition from low-cost labour countries. The announcement will cost 310 jobs at Brisbane's Cleveland plant, which will move to Thailand by March 31, 2009. AMWU Queensland secretary Andrew Dettmer said the union believed the company was strong and could keep its Brisbane plant open. Mr Dettmer said while he acknowledged economic pressures such as the high exchange rate, the whitegoods industry was in a good position to weather such pressures. "We've seen that before, the Australian dollar has not been at this level for some time, but it didn't prevent an Australian whitegoods industry from thriving at the time," he told AAP. "I think all of us know that is only a short-term problem, but it will have long-term implications for those workers on that site and, of course, the future of the Australian whitegoods industry." He said employees did not accept the closure was the only inevitable outcome and were seeking urgent talks with the company and federal and state industry ministers. "We will be seeking to leave no stone unturned in trying to get this plant to continue to operate," he said. "The trade union movement deals in hope, and that's what we'll be seeking to do." He said workers were disappointed the company had not discussed its plans earlier, telling the AMWU only an hour before its official announcement.