VIC: Kennett pledges jobs for Geelong cement workers

AAP General News (Australia)
04-07-1999
VIC: Kennett pledges jobs for Geelong cement workers

Unions say Victorian Premier JEFF KENNETT has given a personal guarantee that jobs will be
found for Geelong cement workers facing retrenchment.

After a meeting with the Premier, Australian Workers Union state secretary BILL SHORTEN
says he's disappointed Mr KENNETT says there's nothing he can do to prevent the closure of the
plant.

About 150 workers face retrenchment with Adelaide Brighton, the owner of the 110-year-old
Geelong Cement plant, planning to close the factory following a merger deal with Britain's
number two cement maker, Rugby Plc.

Mr SHORTEN says unions had hoped Mr KENNETT would unite with them and the opposition in a
submission to the Competition and Consumer Commission and the Foreign Investment Review Board.

He says both organisations say they have reservations about the merger.

AAP RTV ag/imc/rp/jn

KEYWORD: CEMENT (MELBOURNE)

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