Press Release
Motherson to buy Empire Rubber
Tuesday April 17, 2007
Nearly 12 months of uncertainty and distress for 220 Bendigo automotive component workers finally came to an end today (Tuesday April 17, 2007) with Motherson Sumi agreeing to purchase Empire Rubber.
Empire Rubber went into administration and subsequent liquidation after its parent company Huon Corporation collapsed last June.
Workers voted at the end of last month to sell the Bendigo factory to Flexara if the Australian-based company met the liquidator’s, SIMS Partners, due diligence requirements.
However, in the past week it became clear Flexara could not meet those requirements and the company withdrew its purchase offer.
The liquidators and National Union of Workers then instigated discussions with Motherson, who had lost out to Flexara in the March vote, to secure a sale of the company.
Overnight Motherson executed sale documents to purchase Empire Rubber, with workers endorsing that move at a mass meeting today.
NUW State Secretary Antony Thow said it was a good result, especially considering the position of the company last year.
“Last June we were faced with a situation where this site was on the verge of collapse and workers would have had no job and no entitlements.
“Through the Motherson deal, 100 full-time manufacturing jobs, will remain in the Bendigo region and there will be a $22million injection into the local economy.
“The new Motherson proposal also takes the employee numbers over the Howard Government’s magic 100 mark so our members will have greater job security.
“It is an absolute outrage though that the Howard Government’s IR laws put extra pressure on workers making decisions like these about their future, having to think about whether a company has 100 or 101 employees.
“This has been difficult, but in the end the union needed to be pragmatic about the situation and ensure the best possible outcome for our members and the local region, and we believe we have done that.”
Aside from the 100 full-time jobs, Motherson has stated there will be another 42 casual jobs on site.
The Indian-based multinational has also made alterations to its original proposal to provide better terms and conditions for workers remaining at the company.
“Those workers will be employed under a strong union Collective Agreement with better remuneration for Sunday work, and greater certainty regarding weekend work,” Thow said.
He also said the 100 remaining workers would now be volunteers only, an improvement from the original Motherson proposal.
However, he said there did need to be the full 100 volunteers for the sale to go ahead.
Last modified 2008-12-10 09:55 AM
