Union bids for Holden Captiva

Building Holden Captivas in Elizabeth instead of South Korea is among union suggestions aimed at safeguarding SA car-manufacturing jobs. AWU state secretary John Camillo said Holden sold about 14,000 Captivas in Australia each year and moving production of the 4WD to Elizabeth might help make the factory more sustainable.

Holden is in talks with the union about cutting costs at the factory and is asking workers to consider a pay cut. Mr Camillo said: “Our focus is to protect the manufacturing industry in this country. Obviously some people will be happy and some won't be, but we need to lay everything on the table and come up with ideas to help save money without relying on wage cuts.

“We have lots of ideas as to ways that could cut costs and building the Captiva here is just one of them.” He said other union ideas included shift changes, less entitlements, such as lease cars, and improving efficiency on the production line.

Mr Camillo said Toyota was working on a deal with the Federal Government to secure co-investment to build its RAV4 model in Victoria. But Holden SA corporate affairs manager Sean Poppitt said the move was unlikely because of the “huge capital investment required to input a third model line into Elizabeth”.

Holden boss Mike Devereux said this week cutting costs at Elizabeth was vital to maintaining Holden production. “If we (don't have pay cuts in August) it is highly likely we will not make cars in this country,” he said. Unions have planned a meeting for Friday.