The AMWU has called on aircraft manufacturer Boeing today to reverse its unnecessary decision to make over 300 people redundant from their Fishermans Bend site in Melbourne.

AMWU Victorian Secretary Steve Dargavel said that decisions to restructure and shift work offshore from Boeing’s Hawker De Havilland operations would cause more than 300 job losses over the next 18 months.
 
“We are shocked and dismayed at Boeing’s announcement that they will shift work offshore to the US, and relocate operations to the Sydney site despite existing contracts and demand for operations they have decided to discontinue,” said Mr. Dargavel.
 
“It is our belief that Boeing is shifting operations to their Sydney site to lift its saleability.

“We call on the company to reconsider, as we will see virtually half the workforce lose their jobs from the Fishermans Bend site.
 
“It is clearly a short-term profit-driven management decision to put all their resources and efforts into one smaller project – the 787 Dreamliner.

“But the fact that this product is not yet operational or even in production shows that it is a risky decision that will impact drastically on workers.”