The Australian Workers' Union (AWU), the country's main union, has called for an immediate fiscal stimulus plan by the government to generate demand to save the Australian steel industry given the current crisis it is facing.
According to the AWU national secretary Paul Howes, demand for steel has collapsed, threatening the long-term viability of the industry and hundreds of thousands of jobs.
"The steel industry in Australia is facing its greatest crisis ever as a result of the global financial crisis. We have never seen a drop off in orders to the magnitude of what we're experiencing now, not even during the Great Depression. To keep this industry alive, we need, for the short term, to generate immediate demand and the best way to do that is through government money," Mr. Howes said.
"If the industry collapses, it can threaten 500,000 jobs directly and through flow-on effects in the iron ore, coal and coke industries, and downstream manufacturing and fabrication in construction and building products," Mr. Howes added.
Meanwhile, steel workers from Port Kembla joined Mr. Howes in Canberra as the union released its AWU New Steel Plan. The plan puts forward a 10 point strategy in a bid to save steel jobs, and recommends greater collaboration with the government to weather the economic storm.
The 10 point strategy especially recommends that steel be declared a strategic industry, that Australian steel be used in major infrastructure projects for the duration of the global financial crisis, and that a Steel Price Monitor be established to provide real time information on prices, production costs, demand conditions and transparency in the assessment of dumping cases.