Kevin joined the CEPU SA Branch in 1979. After 46 years as a CEPU SA member at the South Middleback Ranges Mine near Whyalla, Kevin is now retiring.
In June this year, Kevin was awarded honorary membership with the CEPU SA. For 46 years of dedication, acting on his union values, showing solidarity and backing in his workmates.
Whyalla is an important town and community in South Australia and the Whyalla Steelworks and Mine are integral to that community.
Kevin was able to start, continue and finish his career working in Whyalla. He has been able to work locally, while still having a full career that allowed him to make the most of the skills of his trade.
The workers of Whyalla deserve a future, they deserve dignity, and they deserve prosperity. They deserve to be able have a career like Kevin. They deserve to be able to work and invest back into their own community and prosper in their own community.
There is hope for Whyalla to do this now the SA State Government and Federal Government have provided a long overdue certainty to workers and a town that have dealt with disruption and doubt for far too long. This historic investment into this critical manufacturing facility will secure Whyalla’s future after years of reckless mismanagement. A future now and a Future Made in Australia.
The Whyalla Steelworks employs 1000 people directly, and the town of 22,000 people relies on it as a major driver of the economy. Workers in Whyalla have been struggling with increasing risks to job security, the risks to the financial security of their town, and the risks to having a safe and secure future for industry in Whyalla while the future of the Steelworks has been uncertain.
Workers should never have been stressing about shutdowns and closures as GFG dodged suppliers, sent profits offshore, ran the plant down to being almost un-operational, expecting workers to carry the weight, and never delivering on promises they gave to the town to make things right. This investment allows Whyalla to get back to the business of making the steel this country depends on. And this investment could secure a real future for Whyalla to be the centre of green manufacturing.
GFG’s neglect may have made it hard for some to see, but the plant has all the key ingredients to spearhead the shift to clean green steelmaking: nearby access to magnetite ore, gas, port and rail connections and the potential for green hydrogen made with abundantly available renewable energy – plus decades of union members’ experience and industry expertise.
It is good that the Premier and PM have acted decisively to support Whyalla. The public interest may demand government retains a stake in the steelworks moving forward.
While this funding from Governments is welcome, union members want to ensure they have a say in the future of both the Steelworks and the mine. We can’t risk history repeating itself; a short-term Government investment, only to sell it off to another rich owner without any public oversight or intervention. Whyalla workers deserve. Better than that; they deserve a real future.
“The workers of Whyalla deserve a safe and secure future for themselves, their community and their town. These workers have been doing it tough and the recent action taken by the State Government along with the announced support of the Federal Government is a step in the right direction for securing their future.
“We want to make the Whyalla Steelworks the green industry centre we know it can be and to ensure that through this process of administration there is a real role for workers and the local community to take some control of the future of Whyalla.” – John Adley, CEPU SA Branch Secretary
The ETU will continue work closely with Whyalla management and the South Australian and Federal governments to ensure that operations continue smoothly at the steelworks in the coming weeks and months.
All workers deserve to have the chances and opportunities Kevin had. The Steelworkes and Mine have supported Whyalla for generations and we want it to stay prosperous for generations to come and to always have a future, a safe and secure future for the next generations of Whyalla workers.
The union shares our solidarity with Kevin for a stellar career; we celebrate all he has achieved and wish him a safe and enjoyable retirement. Strength in your arm, comrade. And solidarity with all workers in Whyalla fighting to keep their future.