Local hero saves jobs

Andrew Mathieson
Ford will transform its ageing North Shore factory into a green casting plant under a $20 million upgrade creating 50 jobs and securing another 100 in Geelong.
A leading unionist at the factory credited Ford Australia president and chief executive officer Marin Burela with the investment and keeping the company in Geelong.
Mr Burela announced the jobs boost on Wednesday, saying his former casting plant workmates were “absolutely thrilled”.
“We altogether know we have a future moving forward,” said Mr Burela, who started work with Ford at the factory in 1984.
Ford Australia announced plans in 2008, before Mr Burela took over, to close most of the Geelong operations, threatening hundreds of jobs.
“This significant investment will create new jobs, help the environment, grow Ford business and strengthen our industry,” Mr Burela said.
The North Shore plant would increase the use of recycled metals from 32 to 70 per cent of production while recycling 3.7 million litres of water and more than 6500 tonnes of sand for cement manufacturing to eliminate landfill use, he said.
Geelong management and shop stewards ran a series of studies over the past 12 months to devise a business case for securing jobs while providing environmentally sustainable work practices.
“These improvements reflect our determination to take all practical steps we can to make our products, our business and our industry more environmentally-friendly,” Mr Burela said.
The announcement followed Mr Burela revealing last year a $230 million investment in sustainability initiatives. Both initiatives were part of a $1.8 billion, 10-year Ford investment plan.
Mr Burela said manufacturing “potentially” headed to China would now stay in Geelong.
Ford had also initiated a new deal with global components supplier Bosch for the North Shore factory to produce about one million brake components for Bosch’s chassis systems.
“We believe Ford is leading the industry in finding new and innovative ways to extend our business in collaboration with partners across the plant,” he said.
Australian Manufacturing Workers Union secretary Ian Jones credited Geelong’s Ford boss with saving his workers’ jobs.
Under Mr Burela’s leadership, the North Shore workforce had met overtime requirement over five of the past six months to meet demand.
“Marin is a guy who simply doesn’t know how to say it can’t be done,” Mr Jones said.