Twenty-seven workers are protesting outside the National Foods plant in Morewell, south east of Melbourne, after being replaced by labour-hire workers last Tuesday.

Rob Ferguson, a union delegate at the site, said the 27 maintenance workers were called to a meeting ‘to discuss the company’s future’ last Tuesday, only to be told they weren’t part of it.

An electrician at the plant for the last four and a half years, Mr Ferguson said he and the other workers were suspicious when the company told them the meeting would be off-site.

“They told us that they were investing $55 million into the plant, but that all future maintenance would be outsourced. They handed us an envelope with a statement estimating what we were owed and told us to come pick up our tools on Thursday.”

The workers have now set up a community-protest line, and a facebook group.

AMWU organiser, Steve Dodd, said that the company had breached the union collective agreement and, at this stage, the workers were on 8 weeks paid leave in lieu of the consultation period required.

The union is making representations to Fair Work Australia that the workers jobs have simply been replaced and are not genuine redundancies.