On the scrap heap

Hamish Heard
Fifty workers lost their jobs and $1.8 million in entitlements when a Breakwater car parts manufacturer closed yesterday.
Furious Coghlan Russell Engineering workers made the short trek to Breakwater Hotel to drown their sorrows after the last shift at the failed factory.
The company went into administration in April, threatening vehicle production at Ford’s Geelong plant.
One of the sacked workers yesterday slammed his former boss, Glen Russell, who he said had maintained a high standard of living while failing to put workers’ superannuation aside.
“I saw his flash Mercedes in the driveway yesterday – it must have been after his Wednesday golf game,” the worker said.
“Meanwhile, I’ve got bills to pay, two kids who need food in their mouths and I’m forced to drive around in an old s—box that I can’t even afford to run.”
Sixtytwoyear old boilermaker Merv McNeil was unhappy at the prospect of losing a chunk of his superannuation but was confident a skills shortage affecting the region help him find another job.
“It’s the people who don’t have trades to fall back on who will find it harder,” he said.
Australian Manufacturing Workers Union’s Brendan Whelan said the union was preparing a brief of evidence for Australian Securities and Investment Commission investigators probing whether the company traded while insolvent.
“It’s a disgusting case of another company blowing workers’ entitlements and we fully plan to make an example of these guys,” Mr Whelan said.
He welcomed news that 18 of the workers had been offered positions at Geelong auto parts manufacturer Backwells IXL but he expressed fears for the remaining 32 left jobless.
“You’ve got a mix of blokes with young families and mortgages who have mouths to feed and bills to pay and then there’s the over50s,” Mr Whelan said.
“They’ll find it hard to pick themselves up after this.”
Mr Whelan said Ford and car parts maker Delphi had agreed to help fund legal action in an attempt to recover the $1.8 million owed to workers through unpaid superannuation, including salary sacrifices.
A Ford spokesperson said Coghlan Russell’s closure would have no effect on car production in Geelong.
“We’ve resourced approximately 90 per cent of the parts we used to receive from (Coghlan and Russell) from Backwell IXL in Geelong…and production of two parts has been brought inhouse to Ford in Geelong.”
Coghlan Russell manager Glen Russell did not return the Independent’s call for comment before the paper went to press yesterday.