Bridgestone Australia Workers Agree to Revised Redundancy Package

According to local media, a redundancy agreement for the 600 Bridgestone Australia employees at the soon to close Salisbury facility will be signed within a week. The News Review Messenger newspaper reports that workers “voted overwhelmingly” in support of Bridgestone’s improved offer on November 10. Only two of the 400 union workers that voted on the offer opposed the Bridgestone package.

Under the revised agreement, the paper explains, employees will receive 4.5 weeks’ pay instead of 4 weeks’ for every year of service, capped at 102 weeks instead of 80 weeks. Furthermore, employees with more than 20 years of Bridgestone employment under their belt will receive an additional one-off AU$11,000 (£6,100) payment. Workers who had worked less than 20 years would receive $8000. A third change to Bridgestone’s offer that help clinch support from workers was the decision to extend full redundancy entitlement to workers who had reached retirement age.