A GROUP of heavy-maintenance workers at Victoria's Avalon Airport has avoided having to play job-loss lotto and risk drawing a compulsory redundancy from a hat.

An email from Forstaff Aviation general manager Simon Thorne, leaked to the Geelong Advertiser, said a group of workers would be offered a chance to volunteer for compulsory redundancy.

"If we don't get a volunteer we will have to draw names on the basis that the first person drawn out will be the CR," the email says.

The Geelong Advertiser believes the workers' enterprise bargaining agreement rules that last on should be first off, but three aircraft maintenance engineers all started on February 20, 2008.

Forstaff dropped the job-loss lotto plan after protests.

Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association leaders were locked in talks at Avalon yesterday and are considering taking concerns to Fair Work Australia.

Forstaff chiefs started issuing compulsory redundancies to 23 heavy-maintenance workers yesterday.

The Geelong Advertiser has sought comment from Forstaff Aviation. For local updates, head over there.

