Faces of a factory: the people of Australia's last fridge manufacturer

Updated

Today the final fridge will roll off the production line at Australia's last refrigerator factory. The Electrolux plant at Orange in central-west NSW is closing and production will move to South-East Asia. Some of the remaining 300 employees look back on what the factory has meant to them and its role in Australian history and manufacturing.

I'm going to miss this place, more so working with the people. It's going to be different not getting up at four o'clock of a morning not coming to work. Gerry DeRooy, Electrolux factory worker

Gerry DeRooy works in the high pressure foam department and has been at the factory for 42 years. His grandfather came from Holland to Australia and worked in the factory, which was then called Emmco/Email. He said the plant had a very multicultural feel and some areas such as research and development are like the United Nations because of the number of cultural backgrounds represented. The 61-year-old said he had four or five more years before retirement so he'll have to get out and get another job.

There are millions of products in Australian and New Zealand homes every day being used; that's a tremendous legacy. Mark O'Kane Electrolux Orange General Manager

Mark O'Kane has been at the Orange Electrolux factory for 29 years. He said since the announcement in October 2013 that the factory would close, it has been a journey full of a number of emotions. He has paid tribute to the staff in how they have handled the closure and in continuing to focus on quality and safety. Mr O'Kane said this was to a large extent because of the camaraderie of the factory and employees wanted to finish well and be remembered for the right reasons.

I'm going to have a month off and go fishing. I'll probably go into something to do with youth work. I'm at that age now I think I've got a bit of experience, being a single parent.

Cazem Kadick, Electrolux factory worker

Cazem Kadick left school 22 years ago and went straight into working in the Electrolux factory at Orange. He said his two sons had been the main focus of why he has worked and the plant had given him a good living and good qualities to take home and pass onto his children. He said he was sad about the closure because the factory was his future but he said management had done as much as it could to help the workers.

They [the fridges] are better than the ones they're making in Thailand, I'll tell you, and China. [Making] something of good quality, it's been good. Kim McMillan, Electrolux factory worker

Kim McMillan works in the high pressure foam area and has been at the Electrolux factory in Orange for 17 years. She said she started when her children were older and she wanted something more permanent for work. She said she was going to miss the people the most and had retrained as an aged care worker and has had a second job for the past 12 months.

"It's all right. I like it. I like all the people and everything. Leave me happy. Marko Mkuac, Electrolux factory worker

Marko Mkuac originally came to Australia from South Sudan, via Egypt. He started working at the Orange Electrolux factory four years ago after some time in Tasmania and six years at an abattoir in Tamworth, NSW. He said he did not have a job lined up after the factory closure but he expressed confidence he would find work because Australia had lots of jobs.

"It's a bit sad not only for the employees here but also for the state of manufacturing in Australia; a very sad state of affairs." Chris Cameron, Electrolux engineer

Chris Cameron was a graduate engineer when he moved to Orange to work at Electrolux more than 11 years ago. Mr Cameron said it had been his entire engineering career and he had received a really diverse range of skills from the different jobs he has worked on. He said his proudest achievement was the number of cost reductions he and others were able to achieve, which kept the plant manufacturing for as long as it did. He will stay on until the end of the year working on the replacement Electrolux product and then he aims to start looking for another job that will enable him and his family to stay in Orange.

The people have been great, we're all a different sort of breed, but we all mix in and we all get along and have a bit of a laugh and that's what sort of made this place. Shane Howarth, Electrolux factory worker

Shane Howarth, a team leader in the compressor area, started work at the Orange Electrolux factory nearly 20 years ago, straight after school. He had planned to go to university and was only at the plant to build up some money but ended up "being part of the furniture". He said he had become close to the other workers and he was now going to be separated from them. Mr Howarth has picked up a part-time cleaning job to take him beyond the factory's closure.

We have a generation thing here; we have uni students every Christmas through their holidays and they're usually people who are related to people here in the factory. Cheryl Seymour, Electrolux trainer and assessor

Electrolux is in the blood for Cheryl Seymour, a trainer and assessor at Electrolux in Orange, who has worked there for 28 years. Her mother and father also worked at the plant in the 1970s, her children have done stints at the plant, one brother has already left due to the factory closure and moved to Darwin and another will be there for the final day. Ms Seymour said, after having spent so much time with colleagues, leaving the factory would be like leaving part of the family behind and it would be emotional. She has another job lined up to go to.

When I started here we made air conditioners, stoves, washing machines, fridges and chest freezers. We used to get the steel in black, we used to fold it, paint it; we had our own paint shops here. We used to do chrome plating, anodising and powder coating; we used to do everything here in-house. Phi Johnston, Electrolux cabinets engineer

Phil Johnston is one of the longest serving staff, having started at the Orange factory 44 years ago as an apprentice fitter-machinist. He has seen a lot of changes in production methods and materials over that time. Mr Johnston said he believed Australia was de-skilling many of its young people by the push for higher education but some young Australians don't have the ability to go to university. He said the factory had been a major part of his life and provided him with a good living and home and family. He said the closure was sad and upsetting and while he would work until the end of the year on plant decommissioning, he had no plans beyond then.

There's not many of us that are buoyant about the closure. It's a profitable factory. The thing that a lot of us feel is just the impact on the town; the fact that we won't be taking any more apprentices. Ron Finch, Electrolux supervisor

Ron Finch started at the factory in 1972 as an electrical apprentice and he is finishing as the engineering and compliance supervisor. He said one of the most significant changes he saw in his 44 years was the transformation of the factory to a computer-integrated facility and the introduction of barcodes. "I remember the general manager realising his factory could stop for want of a barcode label, which was a bit hard to fathom.," Mr Finch said. He wholeheartedly believes the Orange factory produced a world class product. He paid tribute to management in maintaining morale since the closure announcement was made. Mr Finch will stay on until the end of the year in decommissioning and after that he plans to travel and do community work in Orange.

It's [the canteen] one of the places that people gather and share the camaraderie the factory enjoys. One thing that's going to be missed is the community that this factory exemplifies. Andrew Parish, Electrolux Orange canteen manager

Andrew Parish has been the canteen manager at the Electrolux Orange factory for eight years. He said the canteen had been a place where staff gathered to socialise and food was an important boost to morale. Mr Parish said a popular item on the menu was the $7.50 roasts on a Wednesday. The final week's menu will be made up of favourites as requested by staff. He said after he leaves he would "restore another Valiant" and probably work in the food industry.

We've seen a lot of people grow and mature and actually become better individuals because of their time here at Electrolux. Even though the factory is closing I've got no real regrets with that because Electrolux been an extremely rewarding company to work for. Brett Ballard, Electrolux Orange safety coordinator

Safety coordinator at the Orange Electrolux factory, Brett Ballard, is just shy of clocking up 25 years at the plant, after first starting as a casual process worker. Mr Ballard said when he started in his safety coordinator's role five years ago there were 33 serious injuries each year. "Having to treat people, take them up to the hospital in pain, with broken limbs or large lacerations was very confronting and it's certainly made me change my attitude with a lot of ways think about safety," he said. Mr Ballard said he was pleased to have improved the safety record and the plant recently achieved 12 months injury-free. Mr Ballard said the company had provided workers with training and education and positions of responsibility for "go getters". He plans to continue working in the safety field probably in Brisbane or Canberra.

There will be a farewell barbeque for the workers at the Orange Electrolux factory tomorrow. Here's a collection of ABC content on the Electrolux Orange factory.

Topics: manufacturing, people, regional, regional-development, history, work, orange-2800

First posted