The union representing workers at the soon-to-be-closed Betta Milk factory in Burnie, Tasmania has approached the owners of nearby dairy processing operations asking they consider taking on the more than 20 workers set to lose their jobs.
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Last Monday, Bega, which bought Betta Milk from TasFoods in December last year, announced it would close the Burnie factory and process the brand in Hobart.
The Australian Workers Union said the decision represented a blow for dairy processing in the North-West.
Robert Flanagan from the AWU said the union's strong preference would have been for Bega to update the infrastructure in Burnie rather than "rationalising the factory out of existence in the way that it has."
"The Betta Milk operation has had a footprint in Burnie for 70 years and has been a part of the fabric of that community over those years so it's devastating the factory will be closed," Mr Flanagan said.
"The workforce at Betta Milk has a very discrete skill set, and the union has held discussions following the announcement with Saputo, which has a factory in Burnie, and Fonterra which have a factory in nearby Wynyard, to explore employment opportunities at their operations.
"Both companies have been supportive of seeing what they can do to place Betta Milk workers within their respective operations.
"The last thing we want to see is regional jobs lost altogether."
