''...As difficult as it is, this action is necessary to ensure that our business is structured appropriately to align with our demand levels and is aimed at ensuring we remain as efficient as possible and continue to provide secure employment for our remaining 2900 employees,'' he said. He said the workers would be offered support and the company would follow up with departing workers to help them find employment. In addition to 212 sacked, 118 have already volunteered for redundancy. The Australian Manufacturing Workers Union said some of the workers who will lose their jobs had been employed at Ford for more than 25 years. Its national secretary of vehicle division, Dave Smith, said the union had asked that Ford handle the workers with dignity.

He said the criteria used to select workers was based in skills and attitude, and there was no evidence of union shop stewards being targeted. "The workers have been called in and that will continue all day," Mr Smith said. "Then they will have to go home and tell their families. "People are going to be anxious and nervous," he said. Small groups of Ford workers gathered at nearby cafes in solidarity. They worked at Ford but were too anxious to talk.

One at a time, they headed over to their employer to hear their fate. Others arrived in their cars in the vast car park, lined mostly with Fords, although not all were made by their employer. The news of losing his job crushed Moji Behbahani. Aged 55, he was losing his employer of 23 years. His hands shook as he described losing his job, not knowing what he would do next. "I have to work," Mr Behbahani said. "I have so many friends there, it is like a second family," he said. He blamed the economic downturn for the job loses and not Ford.

Steve Brown has served Ford for 23 years. The forklift driver kept his job but was sad for his colleagues. "Yesterday it felt like a funeral," Mr Brown said. Mr Smith said a study of 190 car workers made redundant last year found 90 per cent had found new employment. He said it would be tough to find another job in car manufacturing but said the union would suggest workers consider the health sector and logistics and the union would assist in training packages. Mr Smith said the funding announced earlier this year by the Gillard Government would be used to refresh the Ford car's image. He said without it Ford would have most likely closed.

He called on local, state and federal governments to purchase fleet cars from local manufacturers. He said 66 per cent of local governments cars in 2004 had been Australian made but last year that number was 16 per cent. Mr Smith said most countries did not export large quantities of cars and that Australia governments need to back them. Some workers called for the return of tariffs on overseas cars. Dominic Leo, 42, was just short of 25 years at Ford but management allowed him to take the benefits of the milestone such as discounts on buying Fords and servicing. "I have been feeling sick to be here at work," Mr Leo said.

"I have felt it for a long time and feeling that I was at that point in my life (to move on)," he said. Nadel George has worked at Ford for 23 years. He said he went through the criteria the company used to decide which workers were to stay and thought his job was safe. Criteria included flexibility, performance, absenteeism, safety and behaviour. "If you look at the criteria you pretty much know," Mr George said. Some workers went to the Coolaroo Hotel to be with colleagues who were retrenched. Bill Assafiri said he knew yesterday his job was safe but the last month has been tough while workers waited for news.

"It doesn't matter if you are 100 per cent safe or not you will never sleep 100 per cent before a day like this," Mr Assafiri said. "A lot of people are staying but people have lives to lead outside there are people having kids, deaths, they have to plan." Some like Matt, who did not want to give his surname, had work already lined up. He has a recycling business and planned to put his money into it. He did not apply for a redundancy because he knew that he could get an extra $1000 a year if the payout was forced. Workers believed that Ford had handled the process much better than Toyota. Ford said in July it would axe 440 jobs at the two plants by November due to a slump in large car sales and a production reduction.

But redeployment, in-house transfers and 118 voluntary redundancies will result in 212 being axed on Friday. Shadow treasurer Joe Hockey said the cuts are evidence that "protection is not the answer" to a thriving Australian auto industry. As Ford workers learn whether they will be among the 200 whose jobs will be cut at the company's Broadmeadows and Geelong plants, Mr Hockey has repeated his declaration that a coalition government would wind back assistance to car manufacturers. "People are not buying Australian-made cars because they don't want to buy Australian-made cars, and the cars are not meeting their demands as consumers," he told the Seven Network on Friday. "The government gave $34 million to Ford in January this year, the prime minister said this is going to create an extra 300 jobs, [now] 340 jobs have gone."

He says it is up to auto manufacturers to create cars Australian consumers want. Loading "Any time we go down this protection route, we lose out," he said. "The bottom line is we need an efficient car, we need cars that Australians want, and then the motor vehicle industry will survive." With AAP