Up to 1400 workers at BlueScope’s Port Kembla and Western Port operations will lose their jobs after the company announced it would reduce production and leave the export market on Monday.

Unions immediately responded by calling for government support for the workers and ramped up the push for a broad-based agenda to support Australian manufacturing.

AMWU National Secretary, Dave Oliver, said Australian manufacturing was under extraordinary pressure from the high dollar, record high terms of trade and unfair competition from illegal foreign dumping.

“Today is a massive wake-up call to state and federal governments to take more action on manufacturing.

“The benefits of the mining boom come with very big downsides – and 1400 families today have learnt the hard way about those downsides.”

“Local industry is not being given a fair go to work on the mining and resource projects which are driving the dollar sky-high,” Mr Oliver said on Monday.

“Manufacturing still employs close to 1 million Australians. Mining employs around 200 000.

“The most important lesson today for Australia is this: our economy cannot just rely on mining. We can only dig up our mining resources once.

“With clever policies, we can take advantage of the opportunity to build our manufacturing sector up on the back of the boom, instead of the disastrous outcome we’ve had today.

Mr Oliver and NSW Secretary Tim Ayres met with workers in Port Kembla, while Victorian Secretary, Steve Dargavel, was with workers at the Western Port siteon Monday.

Union representatives and BlueScope Steel management have since been in discussions over the process under which the workforce reduction will take place and are continuing to negotiate over details of the packages.

The federal government announced a $30 million assistance package for the Port Kembla community and a further $10 million to support workers at both sites with future employment.