Workers sacked from a Bonds factory in the Hunter Valley will protest to ensure their redundancy pay-outs are protected in case the economic crisis gets worse.
The workers will rally outside the Cessnock factory at midday, calling for their redundancy money to be put in a trust fund.
The factory's closure was announced last month when clothing manufacturer Pacific Brands, which makes Bonds and King Gee, said it would axe 1850 jobs and move some of its operations to China.
Textile, Clothing and Footwear Union NSW assistant secretary Steve Davies said payouts for the Cessnock factory's 83 sacked workers needed to be protected.
"Pacific Brands say that the money is there to pay these workers all their entitlements,'' Mr Davies said. "That is now - if the economic situation gets worse ... we want to make sure that money is actually put aside.''
Mr Davies said Pacific Brands had told workers their entitlements might not be paid as redundancies, and would therefore be taxed.
"It's not necessary, they've already been told they're going to be made redundant, so they should get their full entitlements paid as redundancy,'' he said.
The Cessnock community would be hit hard by the factory's closure, Mr Davies said.
"It's going to take an enormous amount of money out of Cessnock,'' he said. "The only other industry there is ... mining and the other largest employer is prisons and they're talking about privatising those.
"This is just blow after blow after blow for Cessnock.''
AAP
