By CAMERON LUCADOU-WELLS
IN dire signs for about 150 workers, Dandenong South auto-parts manufacturer Dair Industries has been put in voluntary administration.
Macks Advisory staff Peter Ivan Macks, Robert William Naudi and Ian Wayne Burford took control of Dair and its parent company Autodom yesterday.
In a statement issued on Macks Advisory’s website this morning, the administrators announced it was looking at the financial position of Autodom and six associated companies.
‘‘[The administrators are] commencing talks with key players in the automotive industry, the group’s secured creditors, union representatives and government to assess immediately available options.’’
Census figures released last week show Victoria’s manufacturing heartland in Dandenong remains significant but shrinking.
On census night in 2011, there were 12,361 Greater Dandenong residents employed in manufacturing – 448 less than in 2006.
In 2001, there were nearly 14,500 Greater Dandenong residents with manufacturing jobs.
In the intervening 10-year period, overall employment among our residents grew by 6000 jobs, mainly in construction, wholesale and retail trade, and health care and social assistance.
Last Thursday, Dair Industries workers, unaware of their fate, found themselves locked out of the site when they arrived to work that morning.
Australian Manufacturing Workers Union state secretary Leigh Diehm said on Thursday he hoped to soon hear clearer news on the workers’ jobs.
“We knew they were in financial difficulty but we didn’t know the extent of those problems.’’
A statement issued by Dair’s owners Autodom stated it was trying to ‘‘negotiate a restructure proposal with key automotive stakeholders’’ so to quickly re-open its factories in Victoria and South Australia. Its shares were put on a trading halt last Monday.
Autodom stated there was a lack of support from ‘‘key players in the industry’’ to allow it to diversify into new markets.
A Dair manager had told the Journal in August that it wanted to move into parts-supplies for caravans and agricultural vehicles because of a downturn in local car manufacturing.
Autodom chief executive Calvin Steed last week warned there would be significant cost burdens to the industry if the business failed.
In August, a 72-hour strike by Dair workers threatened to bring the automotive industry to a standstill. According to Dair managers, it cost the business $170,000 in sales, with ‘‘another layer of costs to get back on track’’.
State Manufacturing Minister Richard Dalla-Riva said the shutdown showed unions that “all industrial actions have consequences’’.
