Caltex refinery closure ‘kick in guts’
A UNION says it had been hopeful of saving the jobs of more than 300 workers that will be lost with the closure of a Caltex refinery in Sydney’s south.
Caltex Australia announced today (Thursday) it will close its Kurnell refinery in the second half of 2014 as part of a supply chain restructure.
The company says around 330 jobs will be shed at its Kurnell operation over the next two years following a review announced in August last year.
A spokesman for the Australian Workers Union (AWU) says the Caltex decision is disappointing.
“We obviously knew that there was a review underway but we were hopeful the jobs could be saved,” an AWU spokesman has told Sydney media.
The union will meet with affected members as it continues to gather details about the implications for employees, he says.
AWU national secretary, Paul Howes, says drivers will suffer as a result of the decision to close the site.
“Caltex’s announcement of closure of Kurnell is a kick in the guts to every motorist,” he wrote on Twitter this morning. | 
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