580 axed

By Rebecca Fraser
HUNDREDS of jobs have been axed as Coles Myer this week announced it is closing its Hampton Park Distribution Centre.
The retail giant has shed all 580 jobs at the plant. Some workers are predicting the closure will have a huge impact on Hampton Park’s economy.
The plant will shut down over the next four to six weeks.
Workers have been offered voluntary redundancy packages or the option of moving to Coles Myer’s two new distribution centres in Somerton and Laverton.
Coles Myer spokesman Scott Whiffin said workers would be offered training for other positions within Coles Myer or given skills training and career guidance to help them find new jobs.
Jason Gillick worked at the company for six years as a casual stock selector and union shop steward before he was sacked in January.
Mr Gillick said his dismissal was part of a ploy to reduce the number of payouts, with 120 people sacked in the past year.
He said the most disappointing part of Coles Myer’s decision was that the company had previously made assurances that the workers’ jobs were safe. “They were told to go buy a house, go buy a car, you’re safe, and I know a number of people who went out and did that,” he said.
Mr Gillick, who won an unfair dismissal case after he was fired, said the company could not deny that the redundancies were linked to the new WorkChoices legislation.
He said the most important thing to stress was the huge economical impact this would have on Hampton Park.
“To take out their most highly paid jobs is going to have a huge impact,” he said.
Forklift driver Dion Alves had worked at the site for the past 16 years and said rumours had been circulating that the centre would close for some time.
The 48-year-old Wheelers Hills resident said many workers were deeply upset by the closure as some had been assured their jobs were guaranteed about six months ago.
Mr Alves said many workers had been made redundant on the spot, taken to their lockers and walked off the site by security staff.
He said others, such as himself, would remain working until the centre closed.
Another worker, who did not wish to be named, worked as a forklift driver until Tuesday and said for the last year workers felt like they had guns to their heads.
“We were half expecting it but not the quickness of it. They called the meeting and it was over in half an hour,” he said.
The Mount Martha man said in the last year they sacked more people than in the previous 14 years. “They were cleaning out, there’s no two ways about it.”
Michael Donovan, state secretary of the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employee Association said there had been a degree of uncertainty at Coles Myer Hampton Park for at least two years and the closure had therefore come as no surprise.
Mr Whiffin said the Hampton Park distribution centre was closing because the facility was no longer needed.
The closure also came as another Coles Myer Distribution Centre in New South Wales prepared to shut its doors.
“We have made the decision to close these centres now to minimise uncertainly for our people and allow us to get new arrangements in place before the peak retail trading period,” Mr Whiffin said.
“The closure of these two distribution centres is not being initiated as a result of the WorkChoices legislation.”