By CASEY NEILL
DANDENONG’S Marc Landman still remembers his first day at Bullock Victoria, 20 years ago.
“I was packing gutter brackets. I was a bit nervous,” he said.
He’s since learnt to operate almost every machine at the zinc die caster and sheetmetal and aluminium component manufacturer.
Mr Landman is a die casting technician, melting zinc to 800 degrees, and has completed a Diploma in Competitive Manufacturing.
But it would have been hard for him to find a job, let alone a career, without Dandenong Valley Job Support (DVJS).
He has an intellectual disability. Catching public transport was a struggle for him in 1994.
Now he owns a car, has travelled overseas solo and in May became the first DVJS employee to notch up 20 years with the one employer.
DVJS’s Ross Milne remembers taking Mr Landman – then a 17-year-old Emerson School student – to Bullock for work experience.
“I went down to the school looking for someone who wanted to go into work,” he said.
“He was operating a lathe at school.
“We try to find positions that they maybe have an interest or work history in.
“Their potential, you just don’t know.
“We have fellas down there who before coming here all they did was sweep.
“Now they’re operating saws and all kinds of machinery.
“Everybody has ability. It’s just the opportunity sometimes they lack and need.”
Mr Milne regularly visits companies across Greater Dandenong and beyond to find jobs in various fields.
“A lot of these companies are now not manufacturing, they’re just importing,” he said.
“A lot of the opportunities we traditionally got are hard to find, because it’s overseas importing.
“A lot of the work now is in retail and cafes.”
He said productivity-based wages helped some of his clients find a job.
“They’re getting to work at their best rate without being pushed to be equal to everybody else. They’re doing their best,” he said.
“If their best is 70 per cent, the employer legally can pay 70 per cent award. Their pension just goes up a little to compensate.”
Bullock’s Victoria and Tasmania manager Neal Prosser employed Mr Landman.
He was the company’s first DVJS worker, but many have followed.
“The reliability in the guys has been very high. Work attendance has been very good,” he said.
“The reliability, co-operation, attitude and motivation of the employees are the reasons when we have a vacancy, I am happy to offer it to a jobseeker with a disability.
“The qualities displayed and demonstrated by them, makes my job so much easier.”
